M I S F I T S
by KeybladeMosstar
Summary: They were three young fey searching for refuge: Sora, The Faery that Never Aged; Kairi, The Halfling Mermaid; Riku, the Elf that Wasn't Meant to Be. This search turns out to be futile, thanks to a couple of crazy rivals and a mysterious force. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a preview of a story I am thinking about writing. I want to see if anyone is interested in this before I actually start writing this. If I do continue this story, it will be my first long-term fanfiction!**

**EDIT: Thanks for editing this, Mystics Apprentice!**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Hey, Sora!" a dirty-blonde shouted, leaves rustling in his hair with excitement.

His large, autumn-colored wings beat with anticipation as I ran as fast as I could, tripping clumsily over the gnarled tree's bumps and stumps. When I finally reached my fall-faery friend, he snorted in amusement.

"Hey, it's not my fault I can't fly yet!" I protested between breaths. "I'm sure I'll bloom soon!"

"You say that every day, Sora. You've been saying it every day for the past four years now," he pointed out.

I tried to punch him, but he merely glided out of the way. "Grrr…." I thought angrily, my pathetic little wings beating faster and faster. I had to do something to get him back for that. I considered it for a minute, and then grinned mentally.

"Tiiiiiddduuuussssss!" I whined. "You know that's not nice!"

Perhaps I should explain the situation: I am a faery in a small fey reserve on a set of islands, called Destiny Islands. My friend, Tidus, is an autumn faery. Me? Well, I'm a nobody faery - the faery that never bloomed. Blooming is the process where a fey becomes a particular kind of faery. This grants them the ability to fly, to go places unaccompanied, and is the gateway to puberty. It typically happens between the ages of 7 and 10.

I am now 14.

Now, that may not seem like very old to you, but here it's nearly unheard of. It's basically a disadvantage in nearly every aspect of fey life. All of my friends are aging, and I'm still basically a tall little kid.

However, Tidus, like most fey, is a big softie. They collapse under the power of "The Whine." The Whine is a power reserved by little children, but I can still use it pretty effectively.

Of course, I am right, as a guilty expression washes over his face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he muttered, several red and orange leaves falling out of his hair. Suddenly, a big smile lights up his face. "Hey, I have an idea on how to make it up to you!"

Several minutes later, I found myself looking over the edge from the top of a large paopu tree, with Tidus bouncing up and down erratically, similar in manner to my crazy brown hair.

"I heard somewhere that if you truly believe you can fly, you'll bloom," he told me.

I stared at him in awe. "Where did you learn that?"

"At my apprenticeship." He smiled smugly. I stuck my tongue out at him, and then looked back down at the ground. Being only a few inches tall, it was a long way down for us. I considered backing out and waiting around to bloom a little while longer. However, that hasn't exactly helped me out so far, has it?

"If this makes me bloom, then I'll get an apprenticeship too!" I exclaimed determinedly. And being the idiot I am with the childlike naivety I never lost, I opened my small, clear wings and jumped off of the top off the paopu tree.


	2. Chapter 2

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Ch. 2: Deep Sea Problems

"Kairi, hurry up!" Melody urged, her peach-tinted tail twitching irritably. I frantically kicked my own tail in order to keep up with her, but it was no use. I was her little sister after all.

"I can't swim as fast as you, I'm only nine!" I complained as I caught up to her. She shrugged it off, and then quickly threw her black hair into a sporty ponytail.

"Well, try harder."

I was about to retort when our mother, Lady Ariel, interrupted our little argument.

"Girls!" she scolded, frowning. The frown appeared awkward on her dainty face, making me stifle a smirk.

"Kairi…" she warned.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I apologized profusely. She smiled once again, ruffling my long, auburn hair.

"Apology accepted," she said lightly. "Anyway, I have a surprise for you!" she added excitedly. Melody and I inched closer to her.

"What is it?" I asked eagerly.

"We're going to visit your father on the surface tonight!" she cried happily. In response, my sister and I squealed, catching each other's hands in excitement.

You see, our father, Eric, is a human. My mother fell in love with him when she was only a couple years older than me. After some sort of an adventure involving a sea witch, they fell in love and had Melody, who was born as a human child. Ten years later, I was born a mermaid.

As a child, Melody exhibited more mermaid-like traits, so thanks to a little help from my Grandpa Triton's magic, we ended up being raised down here after I was born. This meant we didn't see our dad as often, which especially hurt my "daddy's girl" sis and my still "madly-in-love" mother.

"Now, I want you both to begin getting ready-" At this, my tomboy sister groaned, but Mom continued as if she didn't notice, "- and meet me downstairs when it's time for the tide shift."

"Ooh, can I go to my friend, Selphie's house? She can make my hair pretty really fast!" I pleaded. Unlike my sister, I liked girly things.

"Okay, but be back-"

But before she could finish, I had already darted off.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Hello, Mrs. Flotsam? I was wondering if I could see Selphie," I asked as calmly as possible. Selphie's mom narrowed her eyes, but said nothing as I glided into her home. The clamshell walls were covered in vibrantly colored kelp strands, and small shell fragments were scattered on top, creating a very lovely effect.

"What do you need Selphie for?" Mrs. Flotsam asked, breaking me from my trance.

"I get to see my dad today, and I wanted Selphie to help me with my hair!" I replied cheerfully.

She looked as if she was about to say something more, but then my golden-tailed friend burst into the room.

"Kairi!" she cried happily, giving me a giant hug. Her brunette hair bounced happily, as if in agreement.

"Selphie! I was wondering if-"

"Say no more! I heard you, and I know exactly what to do!" She put a finger to my lips, and then dragged me into her room

Selphie's room was a bit mature for a nine-year-old. The regular clamshell walls were covered in neon-orange fish scales, matching her large jellyfish cap bed and dresser. The main piece of her room, however, was her giant vanity. It was overflowing with the coolest products that only teenagers usually had (well, normal teenagers, at least. My sporty sister barely had any cleaner for her hair). On top of the vanity appeared to be an infinite number of hair accessories, causing me to stare in awe.

Apparently, I must not have been paying attention, as my hand resting on the doorframe accidentally snapped a part of the clamshell wall off.

Oops.

I looked around frantically as she cleared a space at her vanity for me. I then carefully placed the chunk of clamshell back where it was, and tried to act as if nothing happened.

"…your hair is perfect! It's like your mom's hair, just a slightly different color." I hadn't even noticed that Selphie had been talking to me.

"Thanks!" I answered, hoping that I didn't sound suspicious. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about my statement.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked impatiently. "I want to work on your hair!" I giggled at her excitement, as I joined her at the vanity.

As she worked on my hair, we giggled and talked about normal things like the mermaid concert coming up, and how our parents were making us go with them. C'mon, we were nine; we could handle ourselves!

"Here, could you hold this for me?" Selphie handed me a starfish hairpin. "Sure," I responded, taking it between my fingers. Snap.

I stared numbly as the little shards of pink starfish floated away. Finally, panic began to flood me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I cried, attempting to catch the pieces.

"It's fine, It's fine!" she replied airily, as if unconcerned. "I can always find something else for your hair. Mom will buy me a replacement."

Just then, the mother of all disasters occurred: I broke her vanity.

I'm not sure how it happened. I was placing the fragments of hairpin that I managed to catch onto the vanity as gently as I could, but my hand still managed to leave a large dent right in the center of it.

A horrible silence descended from above. What was going on? I knew I was klutzy, but I wasn't usually this bad.

A voice from behind me somehow answered my thoughts.

"It's because you're not a mermaid."

I turned to see Mrs. Flotsam standing in the doorway, tossing the chunk of wall up and down in one hand, the other hand resting on her hip.

"But-but I am!" I protested weakly.

She merely snorted in response.

"You're only part-mermaid. You're other part is human." She spat out the last part. "You're nothing more than a human with a fish tail."

I was about to say something back, but I stopped as I stared at both Selphie and her mom. They both had delicate, almost faery-like features. Their arms were lean and dainty compared to my thicker (1) and muscular arms, and their angular and perfectly proportioned faces were very different from my rounder one.

"Get out of my house, half-breed," Mrs. Flotsam demanded. I wordlessly obeyed, ignoring Selphie's cries of protest.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**(1) Kairi isn't fat, human arms just have a layer of fat preventing their muscles from rubbing against their bones from what I've heard. Faeries/mermaids aren't human, so their limbs work differently. They probably have pixie dust or something cheesy on top of their bones or something, I don't know. Ask one sometime. XD**

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

The full moon had finally arrived. Its beautiful, serene glow blessed the forestland island with a soft light to illuminate the elven tradition that was to begin.

"Riku!"

I snapped out of my daze as my mother, Tifa, called my name impatiently. I blinked several times, and then turned to face her.

"It's time. Are you ready?"

I nodded, gesturing to my cream-colored dress tunic and dark-brown pants that I had recently changed into.

Her earthen-brown eyes studied my outfit for a minute before nodding approvingly.

"It looks great," she commented simply, before turning around and beginning to leave.

"Wait, Mother!" I called to her.

She stopped in her tracks, and then turned to face me.

"Yes, Riku?" she asked. I lowered my head, embarrassed for what I was about to say.

"I think I am scared. I have a feeling that something bad will happen," I muttered to the ground. She stared at me incredulously.

"Something bad? It is a ceremony, a time of joy. Nothing bad will happen," she told me.

"I know, I apologize," I said shamefully. Her face softened, and she placed her arm on my shoulder.

"Have a little confidence; do not let your thoughts get to you. Besides, I will be with you the whole time," she said encouragingly. I offered her a smile, which caused her to give me one in return.

"Are you ready now?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Well then, let us leave." She turned around and walked out the door. I followed her example, but not before stealing one last glance towards the moon.

"Wish me luck," I murmured under my breath, as my aquamarine eyes left it.

Of course, the exact opposite occurred.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Yo, man!" Wakka greeted me in his heavy-islander drawl.

"Hello, Wakka," I returned, slapping him on the back. Together, we joined the large crowd of young elves in the forest clearing. Tonight was the night in which we received our Calling that the fates gave us, and our leader would be acting as a medium between the spirits and us.

"You psyched for the calling ceremony, man?" Wakka grinned at his question, rubbing the back of his ginger hair.

"Of course!" I responded adamantly. "I believe that you spent too much time around humans at that island reservation," I added, grimacing at the word 'humans'. "Your accent makes you sound ridiculous."

"Hey, them humans are cool. I don't get why you and the others think they bad," Wakka retorted.

"I will believe it when I see it," I replied with a smirk.

An awkward silence emitted between us for a moment, before Wakka finally asked the question that was plaguing all of our minds.

"So, what do you think the leader's like?"

I pondered this for a moment.

"Well, it's most likely a she," I replied thoughtfully. "Moon fey are women, are they not? She must be a just leader, if I were to guess. Our community is flourishing under her. What do you think?"

"I bet she's hot."

"Hot?"

Just as I was going to ask him what he meant by that, the moon's light liquefied. The small, shimmering lights instantly quieted the elven crowd, as a harmonious peace filled the air. From the inside of a small hollow, the Moon Elf arose from her slumber.

She was a glorious sight. Her silvery-platinum hair, not unlike mine, fell down her right shoulder, and was drawn into a shimmering braid on the air. Her alabaster skin absorbed the beams of moonlight, seeming to give her a soft, euphoric glow. Her royal-blue gown cascaded down her body like a river, emphasizing her attractive curves, and crystals were scattered across the front, such as to mimic the night sky. Intricate silver knot-work accents had been placed around her hips and low neckline.

She looked like the moon personified.

She yawned faintly, and then opened her eyes. Those pupil-less eyes surveyed the crowd of young elves before her, and then moved onto their parents waiting patiently behind them.

"I take that back. She's beyond hot," Wakka whispered under his breath.

Finally, she spoke.

"Tonight is the night, young ones. The heavens shall bestow thee with thy true forms. You will finally be recognized as adults in our community," she said with an air of authority, despite her soft voice.

"Does anyone oppose the beginning of our ceremony?" she asked. The crowd remained silent, so she continued speaking. "Very well. Let us begin."

She inclined her head towards the nighttime sky; she raised her arms, and then addressed the elven spirits.

"I, Lady Serah, the leader of our people and the Moon Elf of our era, hereby give my body into thine wise hands for the Calling."

The wind picked up, sending strands of silver hair across her face. The moonlight she had been absorbing released itself from her skin and flashed upon the crowd. We covered our eyes as the light flooded over us. When it finally died down, Lady Serah looked almost exactly as she had before.

Almost.

"Wow, man, check out her eyes!" Wakka gasped. I narrowed my eyes, and then drew in a gasp. Not only did she have pupils, the clear irises had been filled in with a color I had no name for.

"Yes, you may have noticed that." We all jumped as she spoke. It was still her voice, but it had been joined with a man's. "Wakka, I presume?"

Wakka gulped, and then nodded weakly.

"Of course, you're the one that was discovered during a reservation on the heated one's island," they said tonelessly. "How about you go first?"

Wakka shot me a nervous glance, but the Moon Elf smiled and gently pulled him towards the front of the clearing. The crowd parted around him as he walked up to Serah.

"Kneel," Serah commanded. Wakka didn't need to be told twice, as he swiftly knelt down before her. Then, Serah began speaking in a foreign tongue similar to the ones that the healers and spell-casters use. Moonlight began to flow from her and into Wakka, causing him to gasp in pain. It enveloped him, which gave the rest of us a fright.

"What is happening?"

"Will he survive?"

I tried to block out the murmurs of my peers, but it didn't work. "Everything's going to be fine, this has happened to all the adults," I tried to assure myself.

Finally, the lights died away, and a stunned Wakka with a new appearance was left, carefully examining himself. His simple tunic was replaced with a yellow vest that opened midway down his chest. Matching trunks were belted to a pair of dark pants on his legs, and his feet were left bare. He looked as if he'd tanned a few shades darker, and a warm glow emanated from his body. He appeared to have grown a few inches taller and gained a much more muscular body structure as well, something he would harass me about later.

"That was…awesome!" he said in awe. We exhaled in relief as he proudly made his way back among us.

"Whatcha think, man?" He grinned, towering above me. He smelled very tropical, like a mix of the sea and tropical fruits.

"An islander elf. I should have known," I mused.

"Snow of the Village, please step forward," Serah called loudly. A large blonde man with pale hair stepped forward.

"I'm ready for anything," he said confidently, but Serah gave no response.

The process continued for a while, as the other elves came out of the painful light as changed members of our community. I was beginning to get impatient, and my stomach was churning with anxiety. After what seemed like ages, Serah finally called my name.

"Riku of Locked Hearts, please step forward."

I nervously walked through the sea of people and into the center of the clearing. Serah scrutinized my appearance for a moment, and then frowned.

Oh no, what's wrong? I thought nervously.

Oddly enough, she said nothing other than to kneel. I obeyed, mimicking my peers before me. Her chanting continued as normal and the moonlight came from Serah and over to me. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the pain the others seemed to encounter, but it never came.

Instead, I felt a pleasant, warm feeling fill my body. It calmed my mind, my stomach, my soul. I felt completely at ease.

The pleasant sensation ended after a moment, leaving me in a daze. I felt oddly refreshed and happy, as if I had awoken from a long nap.

However, I had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong when I heard the uneasy mutters in the crowd.

Not to mention the scream Serah and the spirit let out.

At this point, the nervous flutters in my stomach had returned. I had no clue what was going on, but deductive reasoning told me that it had to be something wrong with me. I looked myself over, attempting to find any clues on what might've happened. As far as I could tell, I didn't seem to have changed much. I felt taller and more muscular, and I appeared to be wearing a pale-yellow mesh shirt with a pair of baggy blue jeans connected to royal-blue suspenders. My skin was paler and gave off a white aura, but nothing spectacular stood out to me.

"Impossible!" Serah shrieked, but I was sure that it was still the spirit. "There can't be two of our kind at once! You aren't even female!"

Wait, what?

"This is bad."

"It must be an omen."

"Look at his eyes!"

"What will happen to him?"

As the uneasy elves quietly chattered amongst themselves, I began to realize what was happening. I was a Moon Elf, the second one alive within the same period of time. There was never more than one alive at one time; that was one reason that they were the leader.

They thought I was a threat.

Just then, she/he pulled a large ceremonial dagger from under her gown. "This should not have happened. You are a bad sign in our village," the spirit said through Serah as they raised the dagger above their head. I closed my eyes, raising my arms protectively in front of my body.

Splink.

I lowered my arms and opened my eyes to see the dagger embedded in the heart of a raven-haired woman in a flowing monochrome kimono, standing directly in front of me.

"Mother!" I cried as she fell into my arms. I tore off the bottom of my left pant leg to stop the golden blood from pouring out of the wound, but it proved ineffective.

"Mother! Mother, can you hear me?" I cried desperately. Her eyes fluttered open, staring into mine with a mixture of emotions.

"Why are you still here?" she tried to scold. "Run!"

"No, I-"

"You are a curse on our lands. You have caused elven blood to be spilt this night!" Serah shrieked, brandishing the gilded dagger, which was stained with my mother's blood.

"Run, man!"

"Riku, Run!"

My mind was numb. I didn't know what to do. My mother was dying, and I had an angry spirit after me. I wanted to scream, to cry, to punch something. This was all wrong; the Calling was supposed to be a happy time!

The next thing I knew, a golden blur had grabbed my arm and was dragging me through the forest. "C'mon man, I can't drag you! Pick your feet up!"

Wakka? Was that him? I tried to respond, but only garbled nonsense came from my mouth. Instead, I decided to obey him and break into a dead sprint.

We were on the run.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**~Moss**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am updating early, thanks to The Otaku You Fools! Thanks so much for your review. :D**

**Anyway, she suggested that I should put pairings in. I don't write many stories with romance, but I figure that it's worth a shot. So, I'm asking you all which pairings you'd like to see. I'm reluctant to do yaoi, just because that's typical in the few faery/fantasy fanfics I've read. However, that doesn't mean that I'll discard that idea. ^^**

**Oh, and here's a little prologue timeline, in case you were confused…**

**Kairi's POV**

**Riku's POV, about 4 years after Kairi's POV**

**Sora's POV, shortly after Riku's POV. **

**Now, onto the story! I am starting a normal POV now. There isn't a lot of Sora yet, much to my displeasure. He will come in soon, though!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own only the plot! I don't own any characters!**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Sweetheart, are you sure that you want to do this?" Ariel asked her daughter gently. Kairi nodded in response. "I'm sure. I want to go somewhere where I can fit in."

Ever since that dreadful day at Selphie's house, her classmates had made her life a living hell. She had no idea how they discovered the incident, but she assumed that Mrs. Flotsam had somehow spread the word. Either way, the yound merchildren decided that they sided with Selphie's mother. They began calling her half-breed, human, and other names of the sort. Other pranks such as coaxing her into accidentally breaking items seemed to be widely used as well. One prank went so far as to cut her hair to the nape of her neck. _You aren't even one of us, so why do need it? _They mocked.

Yeah, it was hell.

She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her short hair, recalling the memory. Ariel sighed, knowing that there was no convincing her 13-year old daughter out of this. "Very well, come along."

"Wait for me!"

The two whirled around to see a familiar ebony-haired, orange-finned mermaid darting after them.

"Melod-ouch!" Kairi was cut off by her sister's large octopus-hug. "I wanted to say goodbye to my little sister." She said, smiling.

"Aw, thank you!" Kairi responded. "I'm going to miss you too."

"You could always stay with me, you know. No one will bully you when I'm around."

Kairi shook her head. "I know what I'm doing. I'm pretty sure that the land above is the place for me." Melody sighed in defeat. "I was just the opposite when I was just a little younger than you. I was unaccepted by those on land, and my heart was in the sea." Melody reminisced to Kairi.

"Really?" Kairi exclaimed. Her sister _never_ talked about her land experiences.

"Yep."

"Come on, girlies. You can't keep da king waiting!" A small, red lobster popped out from nowhere. "Are you in a rush or something, Seb?" Melody said playfully. Sebastian merely groaned. "Da king is very busy today! You can't keep him waiting!" He cried impatiently. The girls and their mother chuckled at him, but finally decided to follow the small creature into the throne room.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Riku woke up with a killer headache and a churning stomach. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes and pulled himself into a sitting position to view his surroundings.

He was not expecting to find himself in the middle of the ocean on as small boat with Wakka.

"Good to see you up, man." Wakka greeted. He looked different than he had before.

The Calling. His change into a Moon Elf. The angry spirit. The frightened crowd. His mother, covered in golden blood. It all came back to Riku in an instant, hitting him like a pack of goblins. He slumped over the side of the boat, emptying the contents of his stomach into the sea.

"That's gross, man!" Wakka grimaced turning away. Riku didn't respond; his head was spinning way too fast. It had all truly happened. Now he was an outcast, never to return to his own home. He wasn't even sure if his mother survived the incident, or even if Serah and the spirits would allow her to live.

Finally, after a few moments of rest, Riku found the strength to talk. "So, it was all real?"

"Yeah, man. It all happened."

Riku nodded weakly. "Where are we going, then?"

Wakka grinned. "Somewhere I know well."

Riku stared at him for a moment before the realization hit him. "We're going to the Destiny Islands."  
>"Of course man, we'll be good there. I have connections." He winked.<p>

"No offense, but how do you know where you are headed?" Riku gestured to the miles of endless sea around their tiny wooden row boat.

"Did you forget? I'm an Island elf. It calls out to me like them hot chicks." He grinned wickedly.

Riku raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in response. Instead, he stared at his reflection in the clear waters below them. His eyes were similar to Serah's before the spirits possessed her: clear, pupilless, and a bit scary. His hair had changed from dull silver to bright platinum, and his face was a bit more chiseled than before.

He was going to miss his old eyes. They were a lot less creepy.

"Different, isn't it?" Wakka commented.

"Very."

There was silence for a moment. Then, Riku finally asked Wakka a question. "So, why did you come with me? You can't go back home now."

Wakka grinned. "I had to keep my friend from gettin' killed. Besides, that place stank. I belong at the islands, man."

Riku couldn't help but smile at his friend. He may be a bit too human for his own good, but that was what made Wakka, well, Wakka.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Wakka replied, looking out into the ocean. "We should be there in an hour or so."

"Great. I was not meant for travelling by sea." Riku grimaced, rubbing his still churning stomach.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Are you positive that you wish to go there?" A booming voice asked the small girl. The voice belonged to a large, muscular merman sitting upon a throne, stroking his white beard wisely.

"I am positive, your majesty." Kairi answered. The ruler of the seas shook his head. He wanted to keep her here in the sea, safe from the influence of those above. He gazed helplessly at Ariel, who merely shook her head. If this was what her daughter wanted, so it would be.

"Like mother, like daughter." He groaned. "Very well then. I have arranged for a group of faeries to take you in upon your arrival. From there, you will be transported to your destination."

Kairi couldn't believe it. She was truly leaving the ocean! "Thank you, grandfather!" She said happily. The king said nothing; he only handed her a golden shell-shaped necklace with her name written on the top in cursive. "Open it." He ordered. Kairi obeyed, and gasped at the sight.

It was a miniature version of their undersea kingdom. Tiny sea creatures frolicked through the calm waters; mermaids laughed and played together, and decorative kelp waved gracefully from side to side. "I-it's beautiful!" Kairi said in awe. The king smiled, obviously pleased with her reaction.

"It's just a reminder of us. We do hope that you will return." Ariel said to her daughter.

"I have one just like it, see?" Melody held her own up. "It was for my time up there. I do miss the place a little." She admitted. "Maybe I'll visit you up there."

Kairi smiled at her family. Wiping a tear from her eye, she said, "Thank you! I'll be sure to come back. Maybe I'll even visit dad up there."

She turned to the king, who now held his golden triton in his hand. "I'm ready." The king nodded. He raised the triton over his head, shouting something in an unfamiliar language. A golden ray shot from the top, enveloping Kairi. After a moment, she was gone.

-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-

Kairi's eyes fluttered open to see…blue. It was a shade of blue similar to the ocean, something was off that she just couldn't put her finger on. Groaning, she pulled herself up to a sitting position.

Something was different. She wasn't floating in the water. Instead, it was nipping at her feet.

Feet?

Sure enough, her rosy fins had been replaced by strange appendages that only the land folk had. Two long legs stretched to about the length of where her fins had been. Two feet were at the base of those legs, each with five little feet on the top. "How strange," she mused, wiggling them. She awkwardly tried to stand on them, only to fall back into the white sands.

"This is going to take some getting used to!" She said to herself, giggling. She pushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ears, which were still pointed. It didn't bother her though. She was on land, in a whole new world! She looked around the foreign place, attempting to find a landmark to walk to. The closest object to her was a strange-looking plant with golden stars in its green leaves. "That will do." She decided. She pulled herself up into a standing position, and began to place one foot in front of the other.

"Put one foot in front of the other!" She sang to herself happily. Unfortunately, that joy did not last long, for she fell face-first into the sand after two steps.

It went on like this for a while. Finally, after about half an hour, she managed to take several awkward steps in a row to the base of the tree.

"I did it!" She cried, panting. She sat down at the base of the tree in an attempt to catch her breath. She had really walked! _I bet Mother and Melody would be proud of me. _She thought. She wished that they could have seen her.

Her bubble filled, indigo eyes found themselves staring at the ocean. It looked so different from this perspective. It was hard to believe that the flat, beautiful blue mass in front of her was once her home. Tiny waves washed onto the surface, then receded back into the beautiful depths.

Suddenly, she spotted something on the surface in the distance. It appeared to be some sort of small boat heading for the shore. Two vague outlines were in it, but she couldn't make out any of their features. She pulled herself up to try and get a closer look when she heard what sounded like small voices coming from above.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! TIDUS, DO SOMETHING!"

"CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP! WHAT DO I DO!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I CAN'T-"

_Splat._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello again! 7 reviews….a lucky number. Thank you, everyone!**

**This chapter ended up being pretty long, but I had fun writing it.**

**Oh, and please forgive me for any errors I may have missed! I typed chunks of it on my iPod in the car, because that's when my inspiration hit. O.o**

**Okay, here are responses to my anon viewers: **

**Peach: Thank you! And thanks for your pairing suggestions. Have no fear, I plan for Roxas, Namine, and Xion to show up eventually…**

**Oh, and you guys should check out ****The Paopu Tree**** by Key(dot)of(dot)Memories. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Believe me, I am not Nomura. The only thing I own here is this little AU plot. **

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Splat.

Kairi winced at the sickening sound of something hitting a small green plant at the base of the larger one. She began to take a tentative step towards the bushes to investigate when a small red, yellow, and brown blur glided in front of her, muttering under its breath.

Wait, it was talking?

Upon a closer investigation, she realized that the blur was a young faery around her age, possibly a little older. He appeared to be concerned about something as he landed inside the bush, because he kept pulling red and brown leaves from his hair.

"Excuse me?" Kairi called softly. "Do you need any help?"

The faery seemed to be too agitated to even regard that he had heard her. This only peaked Kairi's curiosity even more, as she leaned over the base of the tree to peer into the small plant.

"Oww..." a small voice moaned. "I think I broke my spleen."

Inside the plant was another faery, appearing to be slightly younger than herself and the other faery. He wasn't nearly as colorful as the other faery either, so Kairi assumed that he must not have bloomed yet. That likely meant he was probably about ten years old, she deduced. Two fairly average faeries...except the one at the bottom of the plant was moaning in pain with his legs bending in directions in which they shouldn't bend.

"Oh my, what happened?" Kairi gasped. The older faery, landing beside the other one, hung his head in shame.

"Um, well, uh..."

"Did he FALL all the way from the top?"

Silence ensued.

"...Maybe."

Kairi stared at them incredulously. Then, mother-hen Kairi took over. "Why on earth would you let him do that? You're older than him; you should know better."

This statement seemed to catch the younger one's attention. His pained expression turned into a defiant glare.

"Younger than him? I'll have you know that I am three months older than- ouch- Tidus!" he said, obviously annoyed.

"Aren't you a faery?"

"Yeah..."

"Then you can't be older than him. You guys bloom between the ages of seven and ten, right?"

"I'm a special case, okay?" the angered faery retorted. He tried to stand, but ended up yelping in pain and falling back down onto the leaf.

"Sora! Don't move, you idiot!" Tidus told him. The faery, named Sora, obeyed reluctantly and settled for staring at the top of the tree instead.

"So, how are we going to get back up there?" Tidus asked.

"I don't know, you're the one that can fly!"

"I can't fly all the way back up there, much less with you!" Tidus protested. "The top of the tree is way too far up!"

"Couldn't you just grow and climb us up to the village?"

"I wouldn't be able to actually enter the village. I'd crush it, you idiot," Tidus retorted.

They sat there deeply in thought for a moment, until an idea popped into Sora's head.

"Hey, you! Big person!" he called to the auburn-haired girl who had been watching them. "You could help us! I bet you could climb to the top in no time."

Kairi shook her head. "If I were good with my legs, maybe. I just got them though, so I'm still figuring out how to walk," she explained. "Also, my name isn't 'big person', It's Kairi."

"Well, there goes that plan," Sora muttered dejectedly, rubbing his legs. Tidus, on the other hand, stared at Kairi.

"You 'just got' your legs?" he asked her incredulously. She briefly explained how she had been a mermaid, but something had happened under the sea and she had to become a land-dweller for the time being.

"Are you staying with anyone, perchance?" Tidus pressed her. Kairi scratched her head, thinking.

"Why yes, now that you mention it. I was told that I was supposed to find...a faery family to stay with temporarily before moving on." She looked at the boys for a moment. "Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to know..."

"It's her! Mom said that we were having a mermaid guest for a couple days!" Tidus told Sora excitedly.

He frowned. "Mom never told me anything about that," he informed Tidus.

"Wait, so you guys are the ones to pick me up?" Kairi interrupted. Tidus nodded to the girl.

"Wait a minute, that means Mom and Dad will come down here soon anyway!" Tidus realized.

"Yes! We're saved!" Sora shouted happily, and then winced in pain. "I need to see a doctor or something."

"You guys are siblings?" Kairi asked skeptically. "You don't look anything alike."

"Adopted siblings," Sora corrected her. "Faeries-"

"-Usually aren't raised by their birth 'rents. They're typically born because of two young fey partyin' hard, if you get what I mean, girl. Then, they ship 'em off to the nursery fey," a deep, heavily accented voice said from behind her. Kairi whipped around to see two guys a couple years older than her. The first one who had spoken gave off a warm, golden glow. He had to be at least 5'10", and looked as if he worked out every day. His orange hair was short in the back and gradually rose to a single spike in the front, adding to the tough appearance. However, his warm, brown eyes and small smile made him appear a bit more approachable.

The second teenager was just the opposite. He was of similar height and body build to the first guy, but that and their pointed ears were the only traits they shared. His alabaster skin gave off a cool glow, and he had unusual platinum hair that fell to his shoulders. His most unnerving features, however, was his slight scowl and clear, pupil-less eyes.

"Um, who are you?" Kairi asked uncertainly, trying to avoid the silver-haired boy's gaze. The guy, who had originally spoken, grinned amusedly.

"You must be new here, eh? I'm Wakka."

"Wakka?" Tidus shot up into the air. "It is you! I didn't even recognize you, man!" The smaller teen glided over to meet him.

"Tidus! Long time no see, man." He held his fist out for his long-lost friend.

"I could say the same for you. The blitz team up at the people's island missed you. Where the heck did you go off too?" Tidus asked, returning the fist-bump.

Wakka scratched the top of his head. "Well, you see, these guys-" Upon this, he gestured to his silver-haired companion, "-found me out here, saw that I was one of them, and took me back to their island up north."

By this point, poor Kairi was very confused. She had been on land for only an hour, and she had already become entangled in an accident and a reunion between land-dwellers.

Tidus must have noticed, because he finally introduced her to the one named Wakka and brought her up-to-date.

"Hey guys, this is Kairi. She's a visitor from the mermaids down there." He gestured to the young redhead. "She's coming to stay with our family for a little while."

"Mermaids, eh?" Wakka mused. "That's hot. They're pretty standoffish to us up here, though."

Kairi didn't think her cheeks had ever been so red before.

"Anyway," Wakka continued. "I'm Wakka. I'm pretty famous around these parts, girl." He winked for a dramatic effect.

"Wakka, quit it. She's too young for you," Tidus said jokingly. Even though it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, Kairi was thankful he at least said something.

"Shut up, man." Wakka shot a glare at the fall faery. "My friend over here is Riku. We're both….visiting, you could say." His words trailed off towards the end.

"Visiting?" Tidus asked suspiciously.

"We'll talk about it later," Wakka said quickly, flashing a hasty glance at Riku. "So, how's your bro? What's his name…Sora!"

"Glad someone finally noticed me," a voice from below the paopu tree came.

Wakka raised an eyebrow towards Tidus, who looked away sheepishly. "Well, you see…we kinda had an accident, and Sora fell, so…yeah."

"WHAT?" a new female's voice came. Four heads whipped around to see a very angry pink-haired faery. Her pigtails bounced up and down on her pale-pink shoulders (yes, her skin was indeed tinted pink) as her large, iridescent wings beat the air angrily. Her hands rested on a maroon belt wrapped around her tiny waist, accenting her pink tank-top and vibrant, orange tiered skirt. She was a very pretty faery overall, wearing very little makeup and only a few traditional beaded bracelets and necklaces.

However, she was mad. Her stormy-green eyes stared down the four teens, especially the very frightened Tidus to her right. Wakka had never known that someone just under ten inches tall could be so intimidating.

"What's the problem, Vanille?" a softer voice asked. A young man dressed in a simple blue tunic and pants with a metal shoulder guard appeared. His snow-white hair waved back and forth across his neck, similar to the waves of the sea, and his green eyes shone with concern at his Vanille's displeasure.

"Mom, Dad!" Sora called out happily. Vanille and the man turned to face the base of the tree, and then at each other.

"Hope, you go get Sora; I'll question this one," Vanille said to him. Hope frowned, but made no comment as his silvery-blue wings carried him into the bush.

Tidus gulped as his mother's evil glare returned towards him. "You're going to tell me everything, EVERYTHING. If you don't-"

"Oh, hey, Vanille!" Wakka interrupted, smiling at Tidus's mother. "Long time no see! What's shakin'?"

For one tense moment, there was dead silence; no one was quite sure what she would do. Then, Wakka's innocent statement worked its magic, for Vanille's furious mood instantly vanished.

"Oh, why hello Wakka! I didn't realize we had visitors." She gazed around at the crowd, and finally rested her eyes upon Kairi.

"Oh, hello, dear! You must be our little mermaid friend. I'm Vanille." She smiled kindly towards her, and then held out her hand. One would almost forget that she had been ready to rip some heads merely seconds before.

Almost.

Kairi tentatively held her pinkie out to Vanille for her to shake while mustering what little courage she had left to respond.

"I-I'm Kairi." She tried to smile politely.

"Great! And you, my dear?" she asked, turning to the other elf.

"Riku," he replied simply.

"Oh, those are wonderful names, dears," Vanille said cheerfully.

"Do you two young men have a place to stay? We could clear a spot at our place! You know what the humans say: 'The more, the merrier!'" she said in a singsong voice. Had she seriously forgotten that her son had just fallen from the top of a paopu tree?

Speaking of which, Hope had finally emerged from the bush with Sora. His legs were still bent in ways that were unnatural, but he still seemed pretty cheerful. One of his arms was wrapped around Hope's strong shoulders, while the other gave a little wave to those who had not yet seen him. He had chestnut-brown spikes, which bounced up and down as they climbed in features were quite childlike, such as a smaller body and a rounder face. As soon as Vanille saw him, her kind persona vanished.

"Sora and Tidus Dia Oerba!" she scolded. "What on earth were you two doing down here?"

"Um, well, you see, I-uh..."Tidus stumbled over his words.

"Well, spit it out!" Vanille demanded.

"It was my fault," Sora interjected. Vanille's head immediately turned to the brunette.

"Well then, you tell me what happened!" she snapped.

"While Tidus and I were messing around in the paopu tree, I remembered that sometimes trying to fly will make you bloom. So, I decided to try it out."

Tidus stared at his brother incredulously, as a telepathic conversation seemed to be occurring between them. Then, Sora spoke again, "Tidus said that it was dumb, but I tried anyway. End of story." Sora shrugged.

There was a moment of silence. Vanille looked as if she were about to spit fire and burn her son until only a pile of ashes remained. However, a small part of her reminded herself that she had guests. She drew in a few deep breaths, and then told Sora, "We'll talk about this later. For now, we have guests to feed. Look at the time, for goodness sakes!" She gestured to the setting sun. Hope, Tidus, and Sora all took one deep breath in unison; a crisis had been avoided, for the moment at least.

"So, how do we get to your village?" Kairi asked. "Aren't we too big?" Vanille giggled, waving her hand at the girl. "Oh, no worries. All you need is a little faery dust, and you're good to go."

"Faery...dust?" Kairi questioned.

"Heck yeah. That stuff's strong magic, girl," Wakka said. "It's used in nearly everything magic up here."

"Very good, Wakka!" Vanille clapped her hands like a school girl. "Now, let's demonstrate how it works, shall we?" Without waiting for an answer, she said, "A one, a two, a one, two, three, four!" She clasped her hands together, and immediately they began to give off a pinkish glow. Particles of every color imaginable followed the glow, growing in numbers until all the average-sized people were obscured from sight. After a moment, the mist cleared, and a smaller Kairi, Riku, and Wakka appeared, hovering in midair.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to add 'learning how to fly' to my achievement lists of today," Kairi commented.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

After a rather short journey, the group arrived at one of the small houses upon the very tops of the coconut trees. Each tree had two or three flamboyant houses or shops, and each of these 'neighborhoods' were connected to each other by thin wooden bridges. It was a strange combination of primitive and modern architects, but it fit the personalities of the fey.

The house that Vanille and Hope led them to was a neon-blue ranch-style house made out of a strange metallic substance. The four windows on the front had baby-pink shutters, and a long pot containing beautiful flowers sat right in front of each. In the lawn, various sea shells from the sea were scattered in an attempt to look like lawn ornaments. Despite its odd appearance, it had a strange charm that the guests immediately fell in love with.

"Wow, I love it!" Kairi gasped, staring at the strange structure before her eyes. It was as if she was in a whole other world up there, and it was actually quite….fun, like an adventure.

Wakka nodded in agreement. Even Riku seemed impressed by it, for his eyes were stuck to it like glue.

"I'm glad our home is appreciated," Hope said jokingly as he opened the door for them. The others followed him into the little house, excited for what they may find next.

Inside, it was no less colorful. The walls were painted a ruddy sunset color, and the carpet was a shade of sea-blue. In the corner was a white sofa with a bright-green blanket thrown over the back, and in each corner rested a pile of red, blue, and green pillows. While Hope gingerly placed Sora onto thesofa, the others examined the objects hung on the wall. It looked as if someone collected miscellaneous items on the beach and hung them up, because the gallery included a smashed-in coke can and a sunglass lens, as Wakka noted.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Vanille said happily, coming up behind Kairi, Riku, and Wakka.

"Um, yeah," Kairi managed. "But I don't know what they are."

"Same here," Riku admitted.

"He speaks!" Sora said teasingly from the couch.

"I was beginning to think you were a mute myself," Tidus added.

"Oh, posh, be nice; he's probably just tired," Vanille retorted. Just as she was about to explain the objects to Riku and Kairi, a loud whistling sound came from the kitchen.

"Oopsie daisies!" she exclaimed. "That would be dinner. Why don't you ask Sora or Tidus? Toodles!" With that, she was gone.

"So, what are they?" Kairi turned to the boys.

"The silver one is a smashed-in soda can. It's a drink that the humans outside of the reserve like," Sora explained. "That stuff is delicious; you'll have to try it while you're here."

"I'm afraid I'm not going to be here long," Kairi admitted. "I'm just staying here for a couple of days, and then I'm off."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask. Where are you going?" Sora asked.

"Oh, just to-"

"Dinnertime, my lovelies!" Vanille sang, running out of the kitchen.

"Uh, Mom?" Sora interjected. When she looked at him questioningly, he slapped his forehead. "My legs are still broken, and they hurt."

"Oh, oops!" Vanille exclaimed. She muttered something under her breath, and green sparks came from her hands. They hit Sora's legs, and then faded.

"There, that should help until we get you to a healer!" She told him. "Then you'll be ready for your trip."

Well, this was news. As far as Sora remembered, he wasn't going on any trip.

"What trip?" he asked confusedly.

"The one with Kairi, of course!" she responded in a 'duh' tone of voice. "That's why I told King Triton that I would take her in. You both are going to Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits."

**A/N: Vanille is such a great mother.**

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello again! I've hit the double digits in reviews….*drools***

**Anyway, I had to split this chapter up in to two parts. I just kept on typing and typing and typing until I realized there was way too much going on to be crammed into one chapter. Don't worry though; I shall post the second part of the chapter tomorrow. ^^**

**I'm mainly trying to start on friendship building before the trip begins. There's no action yet, but I swear that it begins soon…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy characters, I swear!**

**Anyway, onto the chapter!**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

To say that dinner was unpleasant would've been an understatement.

Vanille and Sora, both of whom were very exuberant and expressive individuals, were probably the main problem at the table. Vanille was yelling about she had been "preparing him all week for his journey" and "definitely said something about this trip at some point in time", while Sora retorted with witty comebacks such as "a fish's memory is better than yours" and "I'm not a misfit, I'm just a late bloomer!" Both of them waving their arms for emphasis on their arguments, resulting in dishes flying off the table or into the other guests. Tidus and Wakka were trying to calm the angry pair down, but they were merely ignored or shoved to the side. While this occurred, Kairi was attempting to discreetly hide her uneaten goldfish fillet without vomiting at the sight. Poor fish, poor little fish…. "This could have been a friend of mine," she thought somberly, ducking to avoid a flying cup.

Hope and Riku were the only ones acting like civilized beings, although Hope looked as if he were about ready to snap. Riku was staring intently at the plate in front of him, his mind obviously in another world.

"…And you think I have a horrible memory!" Sora exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I most certainly told you! I remember telling you a week ago, while we were at the human shopping centr-"

"We haven't been there in a month!"

"Oh, so now you're the memory expert."

"No, but mine is better than yours!"

"Why am I even arguing with you? I'm your mom!"

"My point exactly! Why do you even want to send me to that place, anyway?"

"A friend of mine said that I should! She has a daughter there."

"I don't need to go to some kingdom for misfits! I am perfectly fine here!"

"Jumping out of a tree to try to fly doesn't count as being perfectly fine!"

Suddenly, Vanille slammed her fists on the table. Sora mimicked this action, his unusual cerulean eyes glaring into her crystalline ones. The tension was almost suffocating, as they both took a deep breath, getting ready to scream each other down.

"So, what is Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits?"

All heads turned to the once-silent elf at the end of the table. He shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of six pairs of eyes. "I was just curious," he added awkwardly.

The tension vanished within an instant. Hope let out a huge sigh of relief, while Sora and Vanille managed to regain their wits in their confusion. Even Kairi was content, for she had successfully shoved her goldfish fillet into a nearby plant without anyone noticing.

"Well, you know who Yen Sid is, am I right?" Hope asked Riku.

"Yes, he's the only wizard there is. He is an elf, faery, and merman all at once. That makes him the unspoken figure of authority in the fey world, or so I have been informed," Riku responded.

"Yep!" Vanille said happily. "Anyway, he created a place where odd fey go."

"It's sort of like a safe haven," Kairi added.

"More like an asylum," Sora muttered.

"Sora…" Hope said warningly, not wanting to listen to another argument.

As Riku pondered this for a moment, Wakka seemed to realize what had been going through his head. "No man, you can't do that."

"I can, and I will," Riku shot back defiantly. Everyone but Sora flashed the platinum-haired teen a look of surprise, while the brunette's face was scrunched up in confusion instead.

"Do what?" he finally asked, a question that received a face palm from Tidus.

"He's going to the Misfit Kingdom with you guys."

Sora frowned in response. "Why on earth would you want to go there?"

"None of your business," Riku retorted.

Vanille, on the other hand, was seriously considering this. "I'm sure Yen Sid would be fine with that. I would have to call him to notify him that I would be sending another passenger."

"He could take my place!" Sora suggested hopefully.

"No," Vanille said firmly. "You're going, and that's that. The train leaves at ten in the morning the day after tomorrow."

Sora muttered something unintelligible under his breath, but didn't press the issue any further. Dinner continued in silence, much to Hope's liking.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

The making of the sleeping arrangements was fairly simple. Tidus and Wakka occupied the brothers' bedroom, for it had two twin beds. The two friends also wished to catch up more, since the drama of the day had prevented them from talking much. This left Sora and Riku stuck in the guest room. Sora chose to sleep on the small bench attached to the window, while Riku acquired the bed. Kairi volunteered to sleep on the couch.

After these plans were made, everyone said their "good nights" and retired to their appointed destinations. Tidus had to aid Sora in walking to his room, but that was the only detour made by anyone in the group. As Tidus left from assisting his brother to the sofa, Riku walked in, clothed in a pair of Hope's old pajamas. He muttered a small 'thanks' to Tidus, and then crawled into bed. There was silence for a moment, silence that Sora chose to break.

"So, why are you and Wakka here?" he asked casually.

"Like Wakka said, we are just visiting," Riku replied shortly.

"Yeah, but why did you come too? I mean, don't you guys not like being near humans?" he pressed. "Wakka being an exception, of course."

"Why are you even inquiring?" Riku responded, sounding mildly annoyed.

"I dunno, I'm just curious." He paused for a moment, and then continued on to ask, "So, why do you want to go to that island?"

"Do you always talk?" Riku sighed.

"Yep." He grinned in the darkness. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question. You don't look like a misfit to me."

"I do not feel like talking about it."

"You really need to loosen up, dude."

"How on earth are you still talking? I thought that you broke your legs today."

"I defy common sense!" Sora said proudly.

"Just sleep already," Riku finally said, rolling over in his bed.

"Why? You might miss my chattering," Sora joked.

"I am sure that I will. Good night," Riku muttered. Silence occupied the room for a moment, and then was broken by a chorus of quiet snoring. Riku hated to admit it, but the brunette's idle chatter had been a nice break from the events of the last couple of days.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Kairi, dear, time to get up!" a cheery female voice called from the hallway. The red-haired girl rubbed her bleary eyes sleepily, and then glanced at the happy pinkette in the hall.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

"We have to go shopping for you!" she squealed, waving her arms up and down for emphasis.

"Shopping?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course! Were you thinking about going on a trip with no possessions at all?" Vanille exclaimed.

"Well, it's not like I could really bring much of anything from the ocean with me," she pointed out, playing with the golden shell necklace around her neck.

"That's exactly why we must shop!" Vanille pointed out, running for the door.

"Well, I don't want you spending your money on me," Kairi replied quietly, not wishing to be a burden on her kind host.

"Oh, please, it'll be so fun! I can't do fun things like this with my boys," she said, practically begging Kairi. "Besides, the only outfit you have is the boring one you wore yesterday."

She turned to look at the outfit she had found herself wearing after she washed up on the shore, which was folded on the nightstand behind the sofa. It was very plain; in fact, it was only a simple pink dress made from towel material with short sleeves and a rope for a belt. She had to admit that she would be needing more than that during her stay.

"Okay," she agreed at last.

"What do you mean by 'you can't do fun things' with us?'"

Tidus emerged from the hallway with Sora, followed by Wakka and Riku.

"Oh, nothing," Vanille brushed him off.

He shrugged, and then headed for the door. "Wakka and I are taking Riku down to the blitzball court," he told her.

"Okie dokie, that's fine with me!" Vanille responded happily. After they left, Vanille turned to Sora. "Sora, I'm going to drop you off at the healer's office on our way to the shopping center!"

The boy shrugged. "That works for me."

With that, Vanille helped him to his feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Okay, ready?" she asked the two young teens.

"I guess," came an insecure reply from Kairi.

"Of course, I'm ready to get back to running around!" Sora said enthusiastically.

"Okay, then let's fly to it."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Sora asked Kairi as she gazed at the faery village in the daylight.

"It's beautiful! There are so many colors and strange architectural structures!" Kairi breathed. She could not tear her eyes from the small island of cottages and huts that rested atop the tree, glowing in colors such as iridescent greens, blues, reds, purples and some that she had no names for. The citizens of the town were no different. Everyone had their own signature flair, even the faeries belonging to the same species. One flower faery had beautiful flowers blooming from their backs as wings, while another's hair was shaped as a deep-red rose atop her head. The little children that glided feebly from one spot to another were a bit plainer, resembling small elves with weak, translucent wings like Sora.

"It's nothing special," he said. "I guess it's different from the sea though."

"Very," Kairi agreed. She continued to gaze at her surroundings in silent wonder until they reached a small wooden gate at the end of one of the trees.

"Sweethearts, do you mind waiting on that bench over there? I have to buy tickets," Vanille explained. Without waiting for a response, she plopped Sora down on a glimmering blue bench and headed over to the long line.

"Ouch!" Sora complained. "She could've given me a warning."

Kairi giggled at his annoyed expression.

"What, what's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for being a day late! D:**

**The second part to the last chapter. Reviews, both positive and negative, are appreciated! (Unless they're flames, because those get ignored. :P)**

**I changed the rating to T, because I'm paranoid like that.**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own the plot! *holds hands above head***

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Hey, man!"

"Yo!"

"Hey, what's up? Long time no see!"

"I know, right?" _Thump._

Riku watched the strange exchange of greetings between Tidus, Wakka, and their human friends at the entrances of the strange 'blitzball' court. It resembled more of an amphitheater than a court, puzzling the sheltered elf even more. Tens of thousands of empty chairs surrounded the bowl-shaped center, which was filled to the brim with water. The dome above was sealed shut, but thick lines running through it suggested that it could be opened, perhaps for big games.

"Riku, man, these are my blitzball bros," Wakka told his elven friend.

"Hey there, I'm Sazh," said one of Wakka's friends. He was a fairly tall, dark skinned man with a snug green shirt, exposing his muscular build, and exercise shorts.

"I'm Shuyin," the blonde to his left said simply. He too was fairly tall and muscular, like his companion. However, there was something slightly different about the two older teens in front of him that Riku just couldn't put his finger on.

"Riku," he replied abruptly, staring intently at them. Why did something seem off about them?

"Sorry about him. Them elves up North all act like they have sticks shoved up their butts," Wakka laughed. "Riku here is one of the more laid-back ones."

Sazh, Shuyin, and Tidus all joined in the laughter.

"Don't worry; we'll have him fixed after a round or two of blitzball," Tidus said with a grin.

"Sounds like a plan, bro! We can show him how the humans roll around here," Sazh said lightly. "We only get an hour before the big league comes to practice, but that's plenty o' time."

Humans.

Riku should have realized it. The heat their bodies radiated had been masked by the tropical island weather, but now he felt it as if it had suddenly appeared. Their bodies had more dimension than his own, and he noticed their curious round ears as opposed to the fey's pointed ones. The most noticeable difference, however, was the strange patterns implanted in their irises. The fey typically had images within theirs, while humans had strange lines and multicolored speckles. It made them appear more mysterious, which unnerved him.

Tidus and Wakka must have noticed Riku's sudden tension, because they laughed nervously and elbowed him.

"Don't worry, Riku. I'm sure you won't fail at your first round, man," Wakka said, and then leaned in to whisper into his ear. "They're good guys. You can play nice, ya?"

Riku sighed heavily, but he didn't want to turn Wakka down. He had gotten him out of the…no, he couldn't think about that. Not now, at least.

"I will attempt it. However, someone is going to need to assist me in learning how to play this 'blitzball,'" he told the other guys.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll teach you." A strange grin formed on Shuyin's face as he said this.

Uh-oh.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Wow, going off the reservation seems to be pretty popular today," Sora said. They had been waiting for a while now, and Vanille was still in line to get passes to leave.

"Reservation?" Kairi questioned.

"Yeah, this whole island is a sector that we fey live on," Sora explained. "The other nearby islands are mainly where the humans live."

"Humans, huh?" Kairi said casually, looking down at her lap.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool, actually. We kinda rub off on each other, though." He grinned. "Without us, they wouldn't have clubs or dance parties."

"Oh yeah, Wakka was telling me about that," Kairi recalled. "Don't faeries, um, get a little crazy at those parties and…"

"Uh-huh. What can I say? We like to party, I guess. Then, when the stork knocks on their door, they ship the child off to a nursery faery," he explained. "If you catch my drift."

"Oh, so Vanille is a nursery fey?"

"Supposedly," he replied skeptically.

"That means that you and Tidus are adopted?"

"Yeah," Sora said as he put his hands behind his head.

"Do you ever want to meet your real parents?" Kairi asked.

Sora looked a bit surprised at this. "Why?"

She turned away immediately. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"Nah, you aren't prying," he assured her. "Anyway, I don't really want to. They were probably just two drunk teenagers, like most of them are."

There was a moment of silence, and then Sora finally asked the question that Kairi had been dreading.

"Hey, I never asked you why you wanted to go to that weird misfit place anyway," Sora said, realization hitting him. "So, why did you want to go there?"

Kairi shifted uncomfortably on the bench.

"It's a long story," she muttered, causing Sora to raise an eyebrow.

"Whenever people say that, it turns out to be a much shorter story than they thought," Sora pointed out half-jokingly. Kairi turned to face the small fey, her indigo eyes meeting his cloud-filled, cerulean ones. He wouldn't judge her, right?

"Well-" she began to say, until a familiar pink-haired fey arrived with three green cards.

"Finally, that took forever!" she huffed angrily. "C'mon, let's go! The healer will be ticked that you're so late!" She grabbed Sora by the arm and yanked him over her shoulder, leaving Kairi to rush behind her. Together, they rushed through the gate and disappeared from the top of the tree.

The next thing they knew, they had arrived at a new island. It was also very sandy and tropical, but the area was nothing like the faeries' flamboyant town. Simple, neutral-colored island cottages lined the dark streets drawn across the lands. Each lot had at least one vibrant palm tree, adding color to the property. Despite its simplicity, it had a strange beauty to it.

"Ah, here we are!" Vanille said happily. "Down the road is the shopping center! The healer's office should be coming up soon."

"Yes, finally!" Sora exclaimed cheerfully. She led them down the quaint little human-dwelling until they reached a large, one-story structure made of red bricks. Lush green grass and palm trees surrounded the structure, and in the very front lay a small flower garden on either side of the white, wooden door. Vanille clasped her hands together, releasing a large cloud of faery dust. Within seconds, the group had grown human-sized.

"That should make things easier!" she said brightly, opening the door and leading Sora and Kairi into a small lobby. It was empty for the most part, save for a couple humans and a tree nymph.

"Hello, Miss Vanille," a soft voice said, as a young woman appeared before them. She had dark brunette hair pulled back in a long braid, leaving only a few curls framing her face. Her emerald eyes had golden lights floating around her pupils, and on her back were two translucent wings with forest-green swirls lining the edges. She scribbled something on the clipboard she was holding, and then looked back to Vanille.

"Oh, hello Aerith!" Vanille exclaimed happily, hugging the healer. "I'm sorry for making an appointment on such short notice, but Sora's going on a trip tomorrow."

"Oh, don't worry," Aerith said, a kind smile forming on her rosy lips. "I'm happy to help anyone."

"Great, thanks! If you don't mind, I'm going to drop him off here," Vanille told her.

"That's fine, but may I ask why?" Aerith questioned.

"Well, I have this young mermaid here that's going on the trip as well. I need to take her shopping for stuff to bring!" She gestured to Kairi. "Her name's Kairi."

Aerith looked over the girl. "Hello, I'm Aerith," she said kindly.

"Hello," Kairi responded.

"Well, since that's all good, I will be leaving now!" Vanille said, dropping Sora into one of the lobby's chairs.

"Goodbye then; I should be done with him in about an hour or so."

"Toodles!"

With that, Vanille and Kairi took off to the mall.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"What is going on?" Riku demanded once again as goggles were strapped to his face.

"We're going to teach you how to play," Shuyin merely responded with a weird gleam in his eye. Riku didn't want to trust him; it went against all his instincts to trust humans! However, Tidus and Wakka had joined forces with them, and he had no choice but to go along with it for now.

"Two-on-two, yah?" Wakka asked, pulling his own goggles on.

"Yeah, Shuyin and Riku against you and Sazh. I'm the ref," Tidus responded.

"Great, are we ready then?" Sazh asked.

"Heck yeah!" Tidus exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Wait, you did not articulate the rules to me or-" Riku tried to say, but he was cut off by Tidus.

"BLITZOFF!"

_Sploosh._

Riku had been thrown into the large pool of water by Shuyin. Then, from somewhere at the bottom of the pool, a blue object came hurling at him. Thanks to his quick reflexes, however, he managed to dart out of the way. It spiraled straight into Wakka's arms, who then threw it into a large triangle where Shuyin stood. He easily caught it, and then hurled it back at Riku. The object landed smack-dab in the middle of his arms. "Okay, Riku. Into the triangle, into the triangle," he told himself mentally, as he hurled it back into the triangle where Shuyin stood. He desperately tried to catch it, but it was just too fast.

Cheers and laughter ensued from them. What? What had he done?

The ball came flying back at him.

Thwack.

It embedded itself in his stomach. Riku gasped, his lungs filling with water.

Thwack.

A familiar orange-haired elf pummeled him and grabbed the ball. Riku tried desperately to get it back, but Wakka had already thrown it back into the triangle. What was happening? He was lost, and he lost most of his air supply when the ball smacked him. His eyesight was getting blurry, but in the midst of the blur, the blue sphere came into view.

It was coming at him.

He didn't have time to move.

_Thwack_.

"BREAK!"

Someone helped drag him up to the top of the sphere. He panted heavily for a few seconds, and then turned angrily to Wakka.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"We were teaching you, man. You really need to loosen up," Wakka retorted.

"That was not teaching," he muttered.

"One doesn't simply learn blitzball. One must play it," Shuyin said simply, rustling his sandy-blond hair to release the water.

"Break's over!" Tidus called.

"Wait, there's more?" Riku asked incredulously.

"One and a half more periods," Sazh said, slapping Riku on the back. "Here's a tip: throw the ball into the goal I'm in. Throwing it into Shuyin's just gives us points." He winked. Riku stared at him for a moment, and then nodded.

"Blitzoff!"

Riku was once again shoved into the giant vat of water. "Great," he thought irritably. Well, it looked as if he was stuck playing, he may as well try to make an effort. The blue ball was thrown into his hands. As soon as he caught it, Sazh's words echoed in his head. His eyes darted around wildly. He needed to find Sazh… Then, he spotted him in another triangle on the opposite end. He darted over there, his feet kicking wildly. Finally, he was close enough. He raised his hand with the ball behind his head, and then chucked it into the triangle.

Sazh's hands flailed wildly in an attempt to grab the ball, but it was too fast. It went straight into the goal, earning Shuyin and Riku a point.

Another ball launched out of the bottom of the pool. Riku grabbed it, but was immediately tackled by Wakka.

_Smack._ He punched Riku in the gut to get him off.

_Thwack. _Riku retaliated with a blow to the face.

Thump. A kick to the chest.

Thunk. Wakka finally managed to shove Riku into the wall of the pool. While he was stunned, Wakka darted towards Shuyin and hurled it into the goal.

"TIME!"

"Not too bad, man. You're getting better," Wakka told him encouragingly after they reached the top of the court.

"Yeah, you have a wicked throw," Sazh commented.

"Thank you," Riku said to them, and then added, "That was not too bad, actually. I could play this more."

"Good, because we have one more period to go in this game. Not to mention the other games we'll be playing in the hour they're letting us play," Shuyin said.

"That is fine with me," he replied.

"Riku?" Wakka said.

"Yes?"

"You really need to start using contractions, man."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Sora fidgeted impatiently on the leather healer's table in one of the rooms as Aerith jotted some notes down on her clipboard.

"Okay, are you ready?" she asked Sora, who nodded his head. "This may hurt a bit."

As soon as she said this, wisps of gold and yellow magic spilled from her fingers and into his legs. He flinched, but held his tongue as Aerith did her job. After what felt like forever, she ended the spell. "There, they should feel better."

Sora extended one leg in front of him experimentally, and then bent it back. "Can I walk now?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, but be careful. Walk down using the stool."

Instead, Sora decided to jump of the table.

"I'm fine," he said, and began walking around the room. "Good as new!"

Aerith sighed. "You were always an impulsive one," she said, shaking her head.

"I'm not that impulsive!" he shot back at her.

A moment of silence passed, before Sora spoke up. "Hey, since Mom isn't here yet, could I see how tall I am?" he asked hopefully. Aerith smiled gently and nodded.

"Here, take off your shoes and stand with your back to the wall against the ruler," she told him. He obeyed, leaving his shoes by the table. Aerith lowered the black aligner at the top of the ruler down to meet his spiky brunette hair, not even bothering to fight the wild spikes.

"Have I gotten any taller?" he asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry. You're still the same as a couple years ago," Aerith replied sadly. He looked a little dejected, but shook it off anyway.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot," he said. A buzzer rang, indicating that the door at the front of the building had opened.

"It's been about an hour. That's probably your mother," Aerith said. "I just need her to sign some paper work, and you're free to go."

"Thanks, Miss Aerith!" he said, grinning.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Vanille, Sora, and Kairi arrived at the house with several large bags of clothing.

"Wow, how much did you buy?" Sora gaped at the load they were carrying.

"Just some basic stuff a girl might need," Vanille said casually, throwing a few bags at Sora. Kairi's face was similar in color to her hair. "I had nothing to do with this!" she mouthed to Sora, who was picking up the bags he hadn't caught.

"Arrow postal?" he read slowly on the front of the bag. "What kind of store name is that?"

"It's Aéropostale!" Vanille said indignantly. "It's a human store. We found that their clothes fit Kairi the best. I was surprised at how cute they were! I always thought that humans only wore bland clothes-" Before she could continue droning on about her shopping experience, Sora cut her off.

"Okay, okay, I get it! Shouldn't we be getting home now?" he pleaded.

"Oh, well look at the time! I guess we should go," Vanille exclaimed, causing Sora to slap his forehead in frustration. On that note, they headed back to the gate and to the island reservation.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Meanwhile, Hope was hiding in a corner, talking in a hushed voice into a small phone. He was off guard duty for the moment, but it still created a very suspicious-looking scene.

"This is Hope, I presume?" a deep voice echoed from the other line.

"Yes, Master Yen Sid," Hope responded reverently. On the other end of the call, an old man stroked his long, gray beard wisely. He was adjusting his Bluetooth headset under his pointed, royal-blue wizard's hat while his intense white eyes stared into a translucent orb before him.

"You are calling to confirm your plans, I presume."

"Actually, there is a slight alteration in the plan. Another wished to join Sora and Kairi by the name of Riku," Hope said in a hushed voice.

Yen Sid raised an eyebrow with intrigue. "Riku, you say?"

"Yes, Master."

The old warlock raised his hands above the orb in front of him. "Well, let's have a look at this 'Riku,'" he said, and then began chanting in a foreign tongue. Within an instant, the crystal ball revealed the silver-haired elf in the small faery house, dripping wet and allowing a small smile to cross his face. Sora was beside him, laughing good-naturedly with him about their blitzball experiences with Wakka and his friends. Even Kairi was giggling slightly, standing beside the two boys and giving them some tips when it came to venturing into the water. At first, Yen Sid's eyes widened in shock, but then he grinned widely at the sight of the misfits.

"Ah, yes! These are the three I have been waiting for," he said mysteriously.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS**

**A/N: It's hard to write a blitzball scene. DX Oh well, the plot is slowly but surely creeping into view!**

**So, what do you think so far? Please leave a review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And now, for Chapter 8!**

**Here are replies to my anonymous reviewers…**

**Peach****: I'm really sorry for not replying to you in my last chapters! D: But yes, Roxas, Namine, and Xion will definitely make an appearance later on, because I just recently finished working out the kinks for fitting them in. I'm glad you're excited for them! ^^ Stay tuned for their appearance.**

**Nin4:**** It's fine! Yes, I'm glad you think I'm improving. :D I definitely want Sora and Riku to at least be close friends. I'm putting off deciding if they'll be more then friends until later…I don't want to say any more than that. Thanks for reviewing!**

**I would also like to thanks all those people who favorited or are watching this story. Turkish Delights for all!**

**DISCLAIMER: I accidently the Kingdom Hearts/ Final Fantasy elements that I don't own.**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Dawn had finally come. The red sun was slowly beginning to rise above the horizon, casting a multitude of warm colors into the sky. Several snippets of rays slunk through the windows of Sora and Riku's room. Riku groggily awoke as the light poured in, rubbing his eyes absentmindedly. To his right on the window bench lay Sora, who had not yet been affected by the rays. "Lucky guy," he thought.

His mind gradually made its way back to the events of the previous day; it had been nice for the Moon Elf, especially after the events that had taken place back in the woodlands. He had gotten a chance to distract his mind for a day or so, as well as learn that humans weren't too horrible.

"Sora, Kairi, Riku!" a happy voice called from down the hall, which belonged to none other than Vanille. The pink-skinned faery threw open the door and bounced into the room, appearing to be a little surprised that Riku was already awake.

"Oh, you're up early!" she exclaimed.

"I usually wake up at dawn," he explained to her.

"Wow, that's weird!" she replied in amazement. "Well, can you get Sora up? I have to go get Kairi and the other teens up still. Thanks, dear!"

On that note, she skipped out of the room and down the hallway. Riku blinked, and then turned to the brunette. He was sleeping so deeply that Riku wasn't even sure if he was still alive.

"Um, Sora?"

No response.

"Sora, we have to get up."

The brunette remained sleeping, completely unperturbed. Sighing heavily, Riku gracefully pulled himself from his bed and poked the faery.

"Sora," he said loudly, "get up." But alas, Sora still showed no sign of awakening.

By now, Riku was getting a bit frustrated with the task Vanille had assigned him. How could one sleep so heavily, with the sun up no less? He grabbed a couple pillows off the bed, and then chucked them at Sora. Even as the barrage of pillows hit him, the brunette continued to sleep soundly.

"Try cold water. It worked like a charm on my sister."

Kairi stood in the doorframe, appearing amused at the sight. In her left hand she held a large bucket filled halfway to the top with water.

"You try it. I'm about through attempting to get him up," Riku retorted. The mermaid froze for a moment, but hesitantly walked over to Sora with the bucket of water. Shifting the weight of the bucket so that she was holding it with both hands, she turned it on its side and poured the water down his neck.

The response was immediate; Sora yelped in surprise, causing him to jump and fall off the bench and onto Kairi. She staggered back a couple steps before falling into Riku, who had been watching from beside the bedposts. The three fell to the ground with a great THUMP.

Vanille rushed into the room to investigate where the noise had come from. When she saw the three piled together on the ground, she merely clapped with glee like a small child.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually managed to wake him up!" she exclaimed happily. "Breakfast is in the kitchen; after that, you have to pack up quickly!"

The three remained piled on top of each other quite stunned, until Sora began to giggle nervously. Kairi joined in and even Riku let off a small smirk.

"What just happened?" Sora finally asked.

"We had to wake you up somehow. We just weren't expecting this," Kairi responded, grinning.

"You sleep like a vampire," Riku retorted.

He stared blankly at Riku for a moment, as if his thoughts had kidnapped him for a moment. After that, he scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, I was-"

"Hurry up and eat! We're going to be late!" Vanille cried impatiently from the kitchen. The trio sighed, but clumsily untangled themselves from each other and slipped out of the room.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

About an hour later, the three teens were following Hope, Vanille, and a very tired Tidus and Wakka to the human train station. Sora wore a thin suede-colored T-shirt with a black and white over-jacket. His shorts that fell just past his knees were of a crimson-red, and were held up by a simple blue belt that looked as if it had seen better days. He wore white gloves, which exposed his fingertips, and carried a duffel bag filled with only the necessities. Around his neck he wore his silver crown-shaped necklace, something he had worn for as long as he could remember.

Riku wore the same pale-yellow mesh shirt and dark pants that he had arrived in, although they had been washed. The large suspenders that accompanied the outfit were securely buckled to his waistband. The backpack he'd brought contained some of Hope's old clothes and some new hygiene products, nothing too special.

In the meantime, Kairi was attempting to juggle the bags and suitcases of items Vanille had bought. The outfit she wore consisted entirely of human items, including the uncomfortable 'bra' that the employee and Vanille had insisted that she needed. As for her outer garments, she wore a black tank top with a spaghetti-strap top over it. Several knit bracelets hung on her wrists, and a plastic belt was laced through the magenta skort she wore. On her feet were a pair of simple sneaker-clogs, and around her neck was her charm necklace from her grandfather and a simple black choker. Her bags included (but were not limited to): a suitcase in either hand, a small pink purse on her shoulder, a backpack, and an extra bag on each suitcase. Why Vanille insisted she bring so much stuff was something she would never know; she wasn't even sure what half of the items were.

Finally, they arrived at the station that Yen Sid had instructed them to depart from.

"Do you have your tickets?" Hope asked the trio. They nodded, and each of them pulled out a small yellow piece of paper.

"Great. Bring them to the window, and the employee will stamp them," he instructed. Riku and Kairi nodded and did as they were told, but Sora hesitated.

"Do I have to?" he asked. "I don't want to go."

"I know you don't want to, but you should try it anyway," Hope said encouragingly. "Besides, I don't want to listen to another argument between you and Mom."

Sora rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Vanille snapped at the two of them. Slowly, Sora turned and followed Kairi and Riku to the window.

"Next," the man at the window ordered. The three of them walked up together and handed them their tickets. When he saw them, he raised his eyebrows.

"Kingdom of Misfits?" He paused for a moment as his eyes scanned the yellow tickets. "I think I've seen a ticket to this location before." He rubbed his temples, as if trying to remember something. Finally, he stamped the tickets and gave them back to their respective owners.

"Well, that was odd," Riku said as they walked up to their train. Actually, it was only the very front part of the train, as there were no cars or even a caboose attached. It was painted a deep-purple color, with stars scattered across the front, and there were four windows on each side of it.

"That's one strange train, man," Wakka stated, as he walked over to Riku's side.

"Tell me about it," Riku agreed.

"You know you don't have to do this. You could stay here with us. You enjoyed yesterday, ya?" Wakka asked, making one last attempt to change Riku's mind.

"I don't want to burden you," Riku replied. "Besides, you never know. I could learn something at this place."

"What do you want to learn?" Wakka asked curiously.

Riku paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure myself."

Meanwhile, Sora was saying his goodbye to his brother.

"I'm sure you'll meet other weirdoes like you there," Tidus joked, punching his brother in the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not that weird!" Sora protested.

"Yes, you are," Tidus responded. "Well, are you going to visit us?"

"Of course, I don't even want to go in the first place!" he replied passionately. Suddenly, the train engine let out a long CHOOO-CHOOO.

"Well, I guess we should be going," Kairi said, struggling as another bag fell from her hands.

"Bye, dears!" Vanille called cheerfully as they loaded into the engine.

"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" Sora called as he waved to them.

"Toodles!" Vanille said cheerfully, blowing kisses. Hope waved back, but there was something in the expression he wore that unnerved Riku. Was that fear and…something else? Before he could name the last emotion, the doors slid shut, putting an abrupt end to their farewell session. The engine blew once more, and the train lurched unpleasantly. Finally, it began to move down the tracks. Tidus and Wakka ran along with the train, waving at them through the windows until it disappeared into the dark tunnel.

"Man, I miss them already," Wakka muttered sadly.

"I feel ya," Tidus responded in an equally dejected voice. "Well, at least they'll come visit us. Maybe they'll even return home soon enough."

"I like your way of thinking, man," Wakka said, patting the autumn faery on the back. Hope watched them from a distance, a mixture of regret and sorrow upon his face.

"What's wrong, dear?" Vanille asked concernedly.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied airily. "Let's go."

The four of them stole one last glance at the spot in which the train had been, before reluctantly leaving the station.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"It has to be them!" Yen Sid said enthusiastically, flipping through another large book. "It must be!"

He threw the book over his shoulder, which landed in a pile of books he appeared to have thrown haphazardly as well. Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door to his office.

"Come in!" he said warmly.

The door was carefully opened by a thin man who appeared to be in his twenties or thirties. His long, blonde hair fell down his shoulders and framed his pointed face, which was scrunched up in confusion. From his plain clothing and white lab coat, one could conclude that he was a scientist.

"Ah, if it isn't Master Even. Tell me, how is Ansem the Wise?" Yen Sid greeted the man.

"You seem oddly…pleasant to me today," Even commented. "May I inquire why?"

"Yes, yes of course. I would also like you to relay this information to Ansem," he said with a mysterious grin. He waved his gnarled hands around the crystal ball in the middle of his desk, muttering in a foreign tongue. Within an instant, the orb revealed Sora, Riku, and Kairi on the train he had sent for them.

"Three children?" Even said skeptically.

"Look closer," Yen Sid commanded. Even raised an eyebrow, but stepped closer to examine the trio anyway. As his emerald eyes inspected them, a shocked expression formed on his face.

"Is it really them?" Even asked eagerly.

"If I have interpreted the ancient texts correctly, then yes."

"I must inform Master Ansem. We will need to study them immediately." At this, Even whipped around to leave.

"Not so fast," the old man muttered, causing Even to stop in his tracks and turn to face him.

"I found them first, so therefore I get them first. Maybe after I am done I may allow you and Ansem to study them for your…scientific purposes," Yen Sid said, his voice lined with a mixture of both amusement and arrogance.

"Excuse me?" Even said incredulously. "They aren't yours to take or keep."

"So that makes them yours, scientist?" he countered, dismissing the image from the crystal ball. Even merely glared at the old warlock, clenching his fists.

"I'm afraid I must be going now. Ansem will be sure to hear of this; don't expect him to take the news lightly," he warned, and then briskly walked out the door. Yen Sid merely chuckled at Even's antics.

"Scientists are strange little people," he mused.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Aboard the train, the three teens remained silent. Kairi was sitting on one of the cushioned benches, twiddling her thumbs nervously, while Riku stared blankly at the wall, and Sora simply gazed out the window.

"Hey, look!" Sora exclaimed, pointing out the window. The other two joined him and curiously examined the landscape.

Or better yet, the lack of landscape.

The train was floating through space. The dark entity known as 'space' was adorned with shining stars, colorful auras, and strange lands that flew by as quickly as they appeared. All of them gazed in awe at their surroundings, for they had been unaware of this large territory before them.

"Whoa!" Sora said, his jaw dropping at the sight.

"I knew Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits was far away, but I didn't know it was this far," Kairi commented.

"I never knew that all of this was possible," Riku said in a hushed voice. The others nodded in agreement.

"I wonder if we'll get to go on an adventure out here!" Sora said eagerly.

"Don't be silly, we're going to this kingdom to gain peace in our lives, not more chaos!" Kairi snapped.

"Hey, what did I do to push your buttons?" Sora protested. Kairi ignored him and merely stared at the ground. "Besides, I hope we don't just have to sit around all day, cowering from the rest of the world. I would turn around and leave as soon as possible."

"I thought we were going there for answers," Riku complained.

"Hm, Riku has a point," Sora agreed thoughtfully.

"Answers to what? We already have the answers: we're rejects to society and don't belong back where we came from!" Kairi barked.

"What's got your panties in a bundle?" Sora muttered under his breath. Due to her fey sense of hearing, Kairi heard this nonetheless. She glowered at Sora, causing Riku to shoot Sora a sympathetic glance. Finally, after a few painstaking minutes, Kairi stopped and began fidgeting with her dress.

"You're horrible with women," Riku commented, shaking his head. Sora merely grunted in response, before returning to stargazing out the window until he fell asleep.

They were blissfully unaware of the events to come.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**Well, Kairi's in a bad mood now.**

**Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 9 The Kingdom of Misfit Fey

**A/N: I'm sorry about the delay! Lots of stuff happened, and I needed a week to recover mentally before I typed this next chapter. If I didn't, I probably would have killed someone off. XD The chapters should be coming regularly again.**

**I finally have a beta-reader! Thanks a TON, Mystics Apprentice, for beta-ing this chapter. She will also be going back and looking over the other chapters over a period of time. Soon, it should be squeaky clean. :D Thanks again!**

**Now for a disclaimer…**

**If it is mentioned in Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, I don't own it. I also don't own the song from "Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys." **

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Yen Sid has claimed them?" a pale-haired man asked skeptically, stroking his mustache.

"Yes, Master Ansem," Even reported. "He said, 'I found them first, so I get them first.'"

The man named Ansem shook his head. He rose from his simple oak desk and gazed out a small window nearby, his amber eyes clouded with thoughts. Suddenly, he began to chuckle.

"Master Ansem?" Even inquired. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, Yen Sid, even with all your magic, you never truly understood other beings," Ansem mused to himself. He paced his office slowly, taking in the sketches and diagrams plastered to the wall. "I believe that is one advantage I have over you, my dear rival."

He stopped in his tracks. "Master Even?" he asked the blonde, whose hair fell midway down his back.

"Yes, sir?"

"You wouldn't mind dropping in for a week or so to keep an eye on him and the children, would you? I'm certain that Yen Sid won't mind too much. After all, I did allow his apprentice a short stay here."

"But sir, what if he doesn't?" Even asked nervously.

"Don't you fret; I'll send you with a letter. After he reads it, he will have no choice," Ansem replied nonchalantly.

"Are you certain that you wish for me to go? I mean, there are plenty of other qualified young masters here," Even persisted.

"No, it must be you that goes. Your creativity may help if Yen Sid starts doing anything…strange," Ansem said, hesitating upon the last word.

"Very well, Master Ansem." Even bowed his head stiffly. "When shall I head over?"

"I would like you to be ready by this evening. According to my calculations, they should arrive tomorrow morning. I wish for you to be there with him when the children arrive."

Even began to protest to leaving so early, but the words died in his throat at Ansem's distant expression. Was that fear in his eyes?

"Y-yes, Master Ansem," he choked out.

"Thank you, Even. You are dismissed. I shall give you the letter for my dear opponent when you are ready to leave."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFTITS-**

The passengers on Yen Sid's train were silent. Sora was fast asleep; his small body lay sprawled across the seats. Riku was pacing anxiously from one side of the cabin to the other, and Kairi was staring absentmindedly out the window. They had been on the train for several hours now, and it was starting to get very boring. Riku sighed, staring at Sora. If only he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Then, this ride wouldn't seem quite so long. He walked over to the window with hopes of seeing something that may resemble their destination, however it looked.

And see something he did.

Not too far on their right was a sunset-tinted tower, bending in almost every direction imaginable. It had to be around ten stories tall, although it was hard to tell with the mismatched windows on the front. Five small towers with teal, conical roofs were scattered around the main structure, and a large, midnight-colored roof decorated with stars sat on the main base of the tower. Beyond the whimsical tower was a small forest. The whole scene appeared to be on one floating mass of land slightly larger than a Blitz ball court, canopied by a twilight sky.

"Sora, Kairi!" Riku said loudly. Kairi jumped, startled by Riku's sudden outburst.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Look out this window while I wake up Sora." Riku gestured to the window, and then walked over to Sora and pushed him off the bench.

"Whoa, wait!" Sora shouted, jumping up from the ground. His azure eyes fluttered wide open in panic, but then slowly filled with confusion.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I was having a –"

"Look!" Riku gestured to the window in which Kairi was staring out with her jaw hanging wide open. The boys walked over to the window together, with Sora in between the other two.

"Whoa!" he breathed.

"Do you think that's Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits?" Kairi asked.

The train, which had been going straight since the ride had begun, lurched and began to turn towards the land in response.

"Well, I guess that is your answer," Riku said, his pale irises meeting Kairi's indigo, bubble-filled eyes and Sora's cloud-filled ones.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Sora finally said as the train slowed down.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Yen Sid perched proudly outside his tower in a small clearing. Throughout the woods around him stood small cottages, each holding another misfit occupant he had brought there. Somewhere in there were the houses they would be staying in. They were the ones he had been eagerly awaiting for eons. Now, they had finally showed up, and they were going to be right in his humble kingdom. What could possibly go wrong?

Of course, he just had to ask that question. A strange rocket ship made out of basic-colored blocks had entered the atmosphere and was headed straight for the clearing. As soon as the ship landed, Yen Sid could make out the blonde-haired, green-eyed apprentice of Ansem. "Wasn't that scientist just here?"he thought irritably.

"Coming back so soon?" he asked with an edge to his voice as Even cautiously stepped out of his mode of transportation. "Did you leave one of your strange scientific devices behind?"

"Master Ansem has requested that I stay here for a few days to…observe the children," Even explained.

"And why would I allow you to stay in my realm?" Yen Sid challenged. As he spoke, Even pulled an envelope from the pocket of his lab coat, sealed with a red "A" imprinted into the wax.

"It is explained in this letter," Even reported as he placed the letter into Yen Sid's knobby hands. "I won't be in your way; I have my lodgings in my Gummi Ship."

Yen Sid carefully opened it and pulled out the parchment from within. As his large eyes scanned the page, a small frown formed on his face.

"Very well, you may stay for five days. However, you must be gone by sundown on the fifth day," Yen Sid warned.

"Believe me, I do not wish to remain here a second longer than I have to," Even retorted.

The two rivals, both lost in their own thoughts, wordlessly stood in the clearing.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

CHOO. CHOOOO.

The silence was cut short by the engine of a familiar indigo train. Yen Sid's magical form of transportation pulled up to the men, who had been abruptly broken from their thoughts, and were now eagerly staring down the door. Even a few citizens, awoken by the loud noise, crept out of their lodgings to investigate.

The sliding doors slid open, revealing a very tired Sora, Riku, and Kairi standing in the doorway. As Sora glided out of the train, his eyes grew huge.

"This place is so weird!" he exclaimed, dropping his backpack onto the grass. Riku, who had stepped beside the spiky-haired brunette, nodded in agreement. Kairi was struggling with her vast amount of luggage when Yen Sid spoke.

"Oh, don't worry about that, my dears," he said. "I have helpers who will bring your stuff to your cottages."

As soon has he uttered those words, several broomsticks marched out of the tower and took the trio's belongings.

"Uh, th-thank you!" Kairi choked out, but her eyes were still on the walking broomsticks taking her bags.

"It's my pleasure, child. After all, this is your new home," he said pleasantly.

"New home?" Sora echoed.

"Why of course. Now, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Master Yen Sid. This here-" He gestured to Even, "-is Master Even. He is visiting for a few days from another world."

Riku wasn't sure if he liked this Even. First of all, the oddly dressed character was obviously human, judging from his rounded ears and full-built body. Secondly, he was staring at him and his friends like they were a delicious feast given to him for his birthday. As for Yen Sid, he was getting a strange vibe from him that he just could not name. It was unnerving, to say the least.

Kairi, on the other hand, didn't seem perturbed at all. In fact, her mood seemed to be improving. "Thank you, Masters Yen Sid and Even. I'm Kairi."

"I'm Sora." The faery placed his hands behind his head and leaned back as he spoke, his wings fluttering slightly.

"Riku," The moon elf said simply.

"Ah, I am familiar with you three," Yen Sid responded thoughtfully. "Kairi, you are the child of a human and a mermaid, are you not?"

Kairi hung her head in embarrassment. "Yes."

"Really?" Sora looked at her intently. "I didn't know that."

"Ah, Sora," the warlock said. "If it isn't our little faery who never ages."

"You make it sound cooler than it actually is," he grumbled in response.

Yen Sid chuckled lightly, and then turned to Riku. "Ah, you must be the recent addition to our guest list. You are a moon elf, are you not?"

"I…" Riku hesitated. "That's what the elders told me through Serah," he finally said.

"Ah, that is right. Your current moon elf still lives," the warlock mused. "All three of you are curious conundrums. Am I right, Even?"

The scientist was drawn out of his creepy stare. "Why yes, Master Yen Sid. However, isn't that the reason all of these fey are here?" he pointed out.

"Of course!" Yen Sid said. He proceeded to wave his hands at the broomsticks, which caused them to march into the forest. "Children, why don't you follow my servants to your cottages? You can get settled in and perhaps meet a few neighbors. I'm sure you're exhausted from the trip. I will summon you to my office later to give you a proper orientation."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," Riku said reverently. Kairi followed his suit, inclining her head in respect.

"Bye then!" Sora waved casually. Kairi smacked her forehead, but Riku merely chuckled.

As they headed off into the forest, Even and Yen Sid turned to glare at each other once more.

"Don't you forget that they aren't yours," Yen Sid muttered.

"As if you'd let me," Even growled in response. Oh, how in Radiant Garden was he supposed to examine these specimens with Yen Sid being so possessive?

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

As the trio followed the brooms down the road, they noticed the unique little cottages along the side of the dirt path. The only thing they had in common was their small size, which was probably big enough for a kitchen, living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Other than that, they were in every shape, size, and color that one could imagine. Some were simple like a human's house, and others were comparable to a vibrant faery dwelling.

"This place is so weird," Sora commented again as they walked together behind the brooms.

"Well, it is an island for misfits," Kairi pointed out.

"A strange dwelling for strange folk," Riku commented.

"Hey, Riku?" Sora turned to the tall elf. "What's a moon elf anyway? What makes it so different?"

"It's a long story."

"We learned about them in school," Kairi mentioned, scratching her head. "Isn't there only like, one at a time in an era or something?"

"You could say that," Riku said slowly.

"Then shouldn't you be like, ruling your people or something?" Kairi pressed.

"We already have one."

"Oh."

"Hey guys, do you hear that?" Sora stopped in his tracks, his head tiled to the side.

"I don't hear anything," Kairi said.

"I don't eith- wait, I'm hearing something." Riku tilted his head to the side like Sora and stained his ears. It sounded almost like…a tuba?

Suddenly, a voice began to sing from somewhere in the forest.

_"When an elf has fins_

_Or a pair of claws_

_When a mermaid begins_

_To swim but fails-_

_On the Island of Misfit Fey!_

_Oooh~_

_On the Island of Misfit Fey!_

_Fey!"_

A scruffy-looking man with wolf-like eyes jumped out of the undergrowth, accompanied by a faery with wings on her legs and a nymph in a Hazmat suit. Each of them was holding some sort of an instrument, and they were approaching the trio. They slowly began to back up when they ran into someone behind them.

_"When a troll has manners_

_And a faery always falls_

_There's a group of enchanters_

_But their magic always fails!_

_A monster that always runs away_

_On the island of Misfit Fey!"_

Sora, Riku, and Kairi began to run away from the singing magician that had appeared in front of them, but they found themselves neck-and-neck with a large, scaly creature running for reasons unknown.

"Crap, what do we do?" Riku asked as they darted behind a tree.

"I don't know, but we have to keep up with the brooms!" Kairi pointed out in a panicked voice. "Ugh, I wish I knew why they were singing!"

"Maybe it's their way of greeting us?" Sora suggested.

"But they're all getting in our face, and it's getting a little creepy," Riku pointed out.

As if on cue, a group of absurdly tall goblins leaped in front of them and began to sing some more.

_"Oooh~_

_The Island of Misfits Fey!_

_(Fey, fey, fey, fey, fey, fey, fey, fey, fey)_

_We're on the Island of Misfit Fey!"_

"Eep!" Kairi squeaked.

"Quick, this way!" Sora urged, He grabbed Kairi's hand and darted into a bush, Riku following behind them. They ran along the side of the road as fast as they could, dodging the confetti sparkles being thrown at them.

"Follow me!" a new voice urged. Sora looked at the other two, who nodded and followed the voice. If there were any chance of escaping the mildly strange welcome party at 6 o'clock in the morning, they would take it.

The figure pulled them into a brightly colored house and slammed the door shut. The four of them collapsed on the floor, panting.

"Thanks man! Or girl, whichever you are," Sora said between breaths to the hooded figure. The figure turned to face him, a girl's face barely visible from under the dark hood.

"No prob-" She abruptly cut her statement short.

"Sora?"

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**A/N: I stopped it a little early, just because I wanted to see who you guys thought the mysterious girl who pulled them out of the chaos was. :P**


	10. Chapter 10 A Collection of Mysteries

**A/N: Hello again! It appears as if I've hit 20 reviews on the 10****th**** chapter. It's time for a mini-celebration! Reviewers will receive twice as many Turkish Delights as the first time I offered them. Well, what are you waiting for?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that's in Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy!**

**Thanks again, Mystics Apprentice, for being a beta-reader for this! She's nearly finished editing all of the other chapters as well, and it's only been about a week!**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Wha – how did you know my name?" Sora asked the girl. In response, she threw down her hood to reveal a brunette faery with piercing green eyes lined with rays of sunlight. The three of them also noticed the glowing appendages on her shoulders, glowing of what appeared to be rays of light in the shape of wings. Under the dark coat she had just removed was a bright-orange halter dress lined with shimmering beads, and yellow leggings.

"Do you remember me? I'm Olette; I went to school with you when we were younger," she explained, hanging up her coat. "We were friends with Hayner."

Sora scratched his head in thought. He definitely remembered hanging out with Hayner, but for some reason he couldn't remember any Olettes. However, she did seem vaguely familiar.

"Uh…" he responded intelligently. Olette looked a little crestfallen, so Kairi immediately jumped into the conversation.

"Oh, don't worry; Sora has a horrible memory. I'm Kairi, by the way," she said, offering her a smile.

"Oh, I guess he did!" Olette let out a forced chuckle, and held out her hand to the mermaid. As they shook hands, Olette turned to the remaining teenager in the room, who was staring blankly at the wall. "And you are…?"

"Riku. I'm sorry, I zoned out," he explained apologetically. He shook hands with her as well, and then looked around the colorful cabin. "Thank you for saving us out there."

"Oh, no worries! They didn't mean any harm; we just don't get new members very often. When the others heard about three new guests coming, I guess they just got a little too excited," she giggled.

"I do remember you!" Sora said suddenly. "It was back in fifth grade at the human elementary school, right? We had Mr. Kadaj as our homeroom teacher. He used to always give us detention and make us clean his room without magic." He grimaced at the memory. Olette's eyes widened in delight, and she began clapping her hands with joy.

"You do remember me! I was so nervous that everyone forgot about me. I wrote several letters to my friends and family back home, but no one ever responded."

"Really?" Kairi exclaimed, surprised at this. "Why would they do that?"

"I'm not sure," Olette admitted.

"Well," Riku began hesitantly. "Sora didn't recall you until just now. Maybe that is what happened with everyone else?"

"How could my own mother forget me?" Olette pointed out.

"She has a point," Kairi said. "Anyway, when will it be safe to sneak out? We lost sight of the brooms, which were leading us to where we'll be staying."

"Oh, they can't be too far from here," Olette replied. "The houses are in order of oldest to newest members, and I'm one of the newest ones myself. If we sneak around through the backyard, we should be there in a jiffy."

"That's excellent news. I need to get some sleep after that lengthy ride," Riku admitted.

"Great! Thanks a bunch, Olette!" Sora said cheerfully, pausing before adding sheepishly, "and…sorry about not remembering you at first."

"Oh, don't worry! At least you eventually remembered me," she replied. She put her black coat back on, and then beckoned for the others to follow her to the back door. They continued to follow Olette, quietly creeping through the sliding glass door and into the forest.

After slinking through the backyard of a black house covered in blue and yellow décor, they reached an adobe that appeared to be Kairi's. The paint job not only looked like the ocean, it swayed like the ocean as well. Bubbles floated up from the base of the house and floated around the seashell-framed windows, while realistic paintings of fish swam from one side of the house to the other.

"It's charming!" Kairi whispered, causing Olette to thrust her hand over the mermaid's mouth. She stood still for a moment with her eyes darting nervously from side-to-side, as if expecting someone to jump out at any moment with party streamers and strange songs. Finally, she dragged them to the front of the house and grabbed a key that a broom beside the door was holding. She jiggled it in the lock for a second before the kelp-framed entrance swung open. The trio dashed into the doorway, and then Olette closed and locked the door.

"Whew! That was a bit of a hassle," Sora said as he stretched his wings out.

"Yes, only a bit," Riku said sarcastically. "Besides, where are our houses?"

"I second that," Sora added. In response, Olette pulled open the flowery-pink drapes slightly and gestured across the street.

"I figured it may be a little risky for you to cross the street," she explained to the boys.

"Well, you are welcome to stay here!" Kairi joked. Both Sora and Riku frowned at this suggestion, as the household items were almost entirely light-pink. The sofa was pink, the kitchen counters were pink, the barstools were pink, the decorations on the ocean wall were pink, and even the sandy floor had grains of pink sand mixed in.

"I wonder how Master Yen Sid knew that my favorite color was pink," she said thoughtfully.

"He's a warlock; eventually, you just learn to get used to it," Olette replied.

"Hey, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you." Sora turned to Olette. "How did you end up coming here? I haven't seen you since after you bloomed into a sun faery."

"Oh, well…" Olette twiddled her thumbs nervously. "You know that sun faeries are supposed to 'bask in the sunlight' and stuff like that, right?" Sora, Riku, and Kairi shrugged.

"I guess so. That is, it sounds about right," Kairi assumed.

"Well, did you get a good look at my house?" she further pressed.

"Eh, not really. We were on the run from a group of crazy, partying neighbors," Sora pointed out.

"I did," Riku interjected. "That back wall of yours was concealed under strange black pictures with silver and white frames."

Kairi and Sora stared at Riku, unsure of what he was attempting to describe. Thankfully, Olette understood him.

"Yes, those are my computers. I spend most of my waking hours on them, and most of that time is spent on World Warriors."

"Oh, we learned about computers in school," Kairi said thoughtfully.

"Well, you were quite the gamer," Sora chuckled. "What I don't get is why you ended up here."

Olette nervously played with a strand of her glittering, brunette locks. "Well, I've played video games to the point where I don't like the sun."

An awkward silence followed her confession. Then, Riku spoke up. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know! I can't help it; that game is just way too addicting!" Olette said in exasperation. "Every time I look at the sun, I'm reminded that I'm not playing on my computers. I just don't feel the urge to go frolic in its light, or whatever I'm supposed to do."

"Well, no worries! We're all a little weird here," Sora told her confidently. "Heck, everyone's a little weird. I don't see why every person who seems a little weirder than usual should be cooped up in a little hiding spot like this." He gestured to their surroundings.

"You have a point, Sora," Olette said with a smile. "Hey, you guys never told me why you were here. It seems fair, since I told you guys."

At this, she earned an 'are-you-kidding-me' look from Sora, while Kairi's eyes darted nervously from side-to-side. Riku, on the other hand, hadn't been paying attention.

"What did you say?" he said apologetically, yawning. "I apologize; I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You can say that again," Sora said.

"You were the only one who did sleep!" Kairi pointed out between yawns.

"I'm sorry, I should have thought about it. We can talk more after you guys sleep, okay?" Olette suggested.

"Okay. Thank you again, Olette," Riku told her.

"Yes, thanks!" Sora and Kairi said in unison. They waved at their fellow misfit, who drew her black hood over her head and slipped out the back of the house.

"Bye!" she called to them quietly, but by that time, however, the trio was already out cold on the ground.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Kairi was rudely awoken by a knock on the door. Grumbling, she rose from the floor and sauntered over to open the door. When she opened it, she was surprised to find none other than the warlock of the kingdom on her porch.

"Oh, Master Yen Sid!" she exclaimed. "I'm really sorry, I-"

"Oh, no worries, my dear. It should be me apologizing for disturbing you three," he said kindly. He looked at the sleeping teenagers on the floor behind Kairi, and then back to the messy haired, bleary-eyed half-mermaid.

"I merely came here to see if you were ready for your tour; it is almost evening, after all," he explained.

"Whoa, it's that late already?" Kairi whipped her head around to look at the rose-colored clock mounted on the wall, before muttering under her breath, "how did we sleep that late?"

She then turned to Yen Sid and said, "I'm awfully sorry about this, but could you wait while I wake Sora and Riku up?"

"Why of course," he responded. "Take all the time you need." At that, Kairi shut the door and walked over to the sleeping teens.

"Guys, you have to wake up; Master Yen Sid is here!" she hissed. Riku's opalescent eyes fluttered open, and then shifted slowly from side-to-side.

"Yen Sid?" he repeated, slowly getting to his feet.

"Yes," she responded. "He's right outside the door."

Her eyes fell onto the unresponsive brunette. "How are we going to get him up?"

"I'll deal with him," Riku sighed, wandering into the small pink kitchen. He dug around under the cabinets for a minute until he found a large white bowl. After filling it to the brim with freezing water, he dumped it on the faery without batting an eyelash.

"Wake up, Sora!" he ordered.

Meanwhile, Yen Sid was patiently waiting for his prized citizens to arouse from their slumber. He could not believe that they were finally here, in his presence! He had been awaiting them for centuries. Finally, fate decided to smile upon him. Now, he could finally have it again –

SPLOOSH.

"BUAAAARRGHH!"

Yen Sid's large eyes surveyed the door curiously. What could possibly be going on in there? Finally, the pale door swung open to reveal a snickering Kairi, a smug-looking Riku holding a bowl, and a sopping wet, angry Sora.

"Did you really have to use the water?" Sora growled at Riku.

"Well, it's the fastest and most efficient way to get you up," he retorted with a smirk.

"Efficient, schmefficient!" Sora scoffed. "Anyway, I was – oh, hey there, Mister Yen Sid!" he turned to the blue-clad figure on their doorstep. "What are you doing here?"

Yen Sid chuckled at their antics. "Hello, children. I was just checking to see if you were ready for the tour of my kingdom," he explained.

"Well, I do think we're ready now," Kairi observed.

"Good, good!" he clasped his hands together. "On the way, maybe you could tell us what you were going to say before greeting me, Sora."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Sora, Riku, and Kairi followed Yen Sid up the earthen road, which led to his strange tower. Although they had made note of the quaint little cottages on the way down, they hadn't gotten a chance to truly marvel at them. One on the left was built of black and white blocks that were constantly shifting around, while another consisted of a massive red rose. Still another was constructed from clouds and floating a good several feet off the ground. Even more peculiar were the citizens that inhabited the village. There was the tree nymph in a Hazmat suit from earlier, along with the faery with wings attached to her ankles and wrists. They appeared to be walking to a simple brick restaurant behind the floating cottage, which had a russet gremlin in a tuxedo waiting patiently in front of the black door. Other curious creatures were digging in their gardens, playing card games in the grass, or even simply dozing in one of the twisted, gnarled trees in the forest. As soon as Yen Sid and company approached, they bowed their heads in respect while staring questioningly at the newcomers.

"They aren't going to start singing again, are they?" Riku asked Yen Sid nervously, who chuckled in response.

"Don't worry, Riku. I have told them to use…quieter antics when welcoming our guests," he assured them.

"This town is simply lovely!" Kairi said, awed by her surroundings.

"It's too boring!" Sora complained, a statement which received him a glare from Kairi.

"Well, it is!" he said defensively. "There's nothing exciting here; it's like an old humans' retirement home."

"That's the point, young Sora. These fey come here to avoid persecution for their differences. Why, isn't that why you three came here?" Yen Sid pointed out. He was answered with a 'yes' from Kairi and 'no' from each of the boys.

"Oh, don't tell me that you don't like it here either, Riku!" Kairi cried exasperatedly.

"No, I merely have a different reason for coming," Riku retorted. "Look, Master Yen Sid: I love your town, it's charming. It definitely provides the peace that some people need. However, I didn't come here for that; I came here for answers. Perhaps you could enlighten us on the reasons for our differences?"

Yen Sid gave him a mysterious smile. "Straight to the point, are we? I'm assuming it has to do with the incident during your Calling."

Riku's jaw fell open at the mention of the incident. How could he-?

"Well, you'll receive your answers in good time," Yen Sid continued. "For now, why don't you just sit back and enjoy the peace while it lasts? Come, I must show you the shopping area. I'm sure you'll find it quite charming, Miss Kairi."

"But-" Sora attempted to protest.

"If you want a clue, why don't you talk about the dreams you've been having in your sleep?" he winked at Sora, whose expression turned into one of shock. Speechless, the trio followed him down a path to the left and into the shopping area.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"So, how was your tour?" a glowing figure with large wings asked, leaping into Sora, Kairi, and Riku's path as they were on their way home. Her smiling face slowly fell as she noticed their concerned expressions.

"Do you not like it?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, no! The town is quite charming; in fact, it's everything I imagined!" Kairi said hurriedly. "Here, how about we talk about it in someone's house?"

"Here, come to my house," Olette gestured to the bright orange and yellow metallic building. As she walked up to the front door, she rang the doorbell and a computer mouse attached to a sleek, white keyboard popped out of the door. She hurriedly typed in a password when prompted, and the door slid open with a little jingle. They followed her into the house they had only briefly seen the day before, only this time they were taking in every detail. The ceiling lit up as they entered, reflecting off the sleek black, metal floor with strange symbols and lines running through it. The walls to the left and right of them were citrus-orange and white, and the wall in the very back was covered in thin computers, laptops, tablets, and phones. Surround-sound speakers were placed on either side of said wall to give it an aesthetically pleasing view. A rolling business chair was placed in front of it and rested in front of a thin gray desk with a single keyboard in the center of it.

"Whoa, this is awesome!" Sora gasped.

"Thanks!" she said, blushing slightly at the comment. "Here, sit down on the sofa. I want to know what's got you three concerned."

The three friends sat down on the simple pearl-white sofa, and then began to spill their apprehensions.

"Well, the town was lovely. He showed us around the village, the shopping area, and even the small park," Kairi began.

"He said some pretty weird things too. It's creepy how he knows things about you without asking," Sora included.

"Like that comment about your dreams," Kairi interjected.

"Or the incident at Riku's Shouting, or whatever it was," Sora included.

"Anyway," Riku interjected in an attempt to veer off the subject. "He also told us to 'enjoy the peace while it lasts' with that mysterious look of his."

"Oh, you guys are just not used to being around Yen Sid," Olette said dismissively. "He's a warlock, after all. He has an endless amount of magic and knowledge."

"Well then, why doesn't he simply tell us the reason for our quirks?" Riku pointed out.

"Warlocks work in mysterious ways, Riku. He'll tell you eventually, just on his own time," Olette told him.

Riku clenched his jaw in annoyance. He didn't come here to wait around for answers; he wanted to know as soon as possible!

"Don't worry, Riku," Kairi assured the teen. "Maybe we can figure it out ourselves. Let's start with Sora telling us his dreams, since Yen Sid hinted that they hold a clue."

All eyes turned to the young brunette.

"Well, that's the thing," he sighed, "they don't make any sense. All I do is run around aimlessly on some sort of platform while a voice tells me not to be afraid of a door. Suddenly, these mutant ants attack me, and then I'm rudely awoken by either you or Riku."

"Well, that's not helpful," Kairi said in frustration. Her bubbling indigo eyes turned to Riku. "Hey, maybe your Calling incident could-"

"No," Riku said abruptly.

"Maybe-"

"No."

"Please—"

"Trust me in this; it has nothing to do with finding the answers," Riku said briskly. An awkward silence fell over the four teenagers for a moment, until Olette clapped her hands.

"Well, this has been extremely…interesting, but it's getting late. Perhaps you guys should be getting home?" she suggested with a forced grin. She pulled out two keys from the pocket of her yellow dress and handed them to Riku and Sora respectively.

"Yen Sid asked me to give you these. They're the keys to your houses," she explained.

"Well, thanks Olette!" Sora said brightly, waving at his old friend. After saying their thank-you's, the trio left the high-tech house and went to their cottages next door.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**To those of you who thought Sora's mystery classmate was Namine or Xion – I'm sorry to disappoint you. I swear that they're coming soon, because I've finished working out the kinks in their arrival! (along with Roxas) **


	11. Chapter 11 The Scientific Route

**Ah, yet another chapter! The rising action is climbing...**

**Thanks again to my awesome beta reader, Mystics Apprentice!**

**Other than that, I don't have much to say. ^^;**

**DISCLAIMER: Do you believe that I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy related yet?**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

In the lush, vibrant setting of the Radiant Garden Town Square, a small shape was flying in a similar fashion to a werewolf on the hunt. His thin, angular features and pointed ears revealed that he was of fey origin; that is, if his wild garb and music note wings (eighth notes, to be exact) had not revealed it first. The frayed edges on his denim jacket billowed in the rush of air behind the speeding faery, revealing a black, sleeveless shirt underneath. Absurdly tight leather pants were held up by a metal belt and a pair of black chucks that were being held together by threads. His attire, along with the mullet he wore, completed his Rock 'n' Roll outfit.

This particular faery happened to be flying straight into a sleek building of granite and steel. The sign on the front read "Radiant Garden Scientific Laboratory," a queer place for a faery such as this one to enter. He quickly clasped his hands together, a gesture which caused him to grow to the standard size of other creatures. He then inhaled deeply, swung the glass entrance open, and entered the building.

"Name," a deadpan voice said from behind the smooth, white office desk. The rocker faery frowned at the lack of enthusiasm in the secretary's voice, who was hidden behind the tall countertop, though he ignored it and proceeded to introduce himself.

"Hiya, I'm Myde!" he said cheerfully as he leaned over the desk.

"Do you have an appointment?" the monotonous voice continued.

"Hey, cheer up a little!" Myde told the woman - or at least, he thought it was a lady.

"Listen pal," the female said in a fuming growl. She rose from her hidden chair to reveal a pale woman about his age with short, platinum blonde-hair styled into two antennae-like strands behind her head. Waves of electricity were slowly channeling up her body and into these two strands, giving Myde the impression that they weren't merely for decoration. Her aquamarine eyes, now filling with lightning bolts, glared into the musician's green, musical note-filled ones. She wore a white lab coat over a simple black cocktail-length dress, which contrasted heavily with her natural appearance.

"I'm not here to act like a smiling, peppy little twit. I'm here because I have to make some money, got it? If you want cheerful, you've come to the wrong place!" the blonde snarled at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down!" Myde cried as he waved his hands protectively in front of himself. Through this action, he ended up knocking over a glass flower figurine on the side of the counter.

"Oopsie daisies!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry; I'll fix it in a jiffy!"

"Yeah, you'll fix it." The blonde leaned over the desk with a malicious grin, replacing her furious scowl that she'd worn only moments ago. "You'll fix it by paying for it."

She extended a thin, tanned arm out in front of the blonde and rubbed her fingers together in a gesture that said, "Pay up, kid."

"B-b-but I can't do that, I'm broke!" Myde protested. "Can't I just use some magi-"

"Pay up or I'll beat you up, rocker freak!" the secretary demanded as she leaned into his face, jabbing a finger into his chest.

"I'm really, really, really sorry! I don't have any money, that's why I came here; to get a job! I called last night and made the appointment and, and –" He gulped nervously before continuing,"–and everything!"

The blonde fey glared at Myde for a moment, and then blasted the lightning she had been channeling through her body into the faery.

"Wa-YEOW!" Myde shrieked as he fell to the ground, twitching as smoke left his singed skin and clothing.

"You're lucky I was going easy on you, punk," the blonde fey spat at him.

"Is there a problem here, Arlene?" a deep, booming voice called from the spiral staircase in the corner of the small lobby. Ansem descended the stairs slowly, his amber eyes resting upon the two young adults without straying for even a moment.

"Arlene, I thought I told you to be gentle with…visitors," The blonde-haired man said sternly. He then turned towards Myde.

"I apologize, young man. Young Arlene here is a storm spirit, and she tends to get carried away sometimes," he explained. "And you are…?"

"Hiya sir! I - ouch - signed up for an - ouch - job here," Myde explained while painfully rising from the ground. As he held his burnt hand out to shake Ansem's, the sleeve to his singed denim jacket fell off. "Oopsies!"

"Ah, you must be the new assistant to Master Even that I hired. Myde, is that right?" Ansem asked thoughtfully.

"Yes sirree!" Myde responded enthusiastically. "You see, I'm kinda sorta broke right now, and my band really needs money. I promise I'll work really hard; I'll do everything you need, just please let me get this job!"

Ansem frowned at the pleading young faery, scrutinizing him with his amber gaze. He barely looked a day over eighteen, but being an assistant merely meant doing menial tasks around the lab such as cleaning and organizing papers. It was a minimum wage job, and Even had been moaning about his lack of aid in the lab; surely the teen couldn't do too much damage.

"Arlene has the paperwork in her desk. Fill it out and return it to me by tomorrow and I'll allow you to start on Monday. Master Even won't be back until then anyway, so it should work perfectly," Ansem finally relented.

"Yipeee!" Myde shouted happily. "Thank you, sir! You - ouch - won't regret this!" He turned to Arlene, who angrily thrust the papers into his charred hands.

"Goodbye, sir!" the rocker faery shouted, waving to them as he ran out the door. As soon as he reached the outside, he clasped his hands together, shrunk to a normal faery size, and darted off into the town square.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Click. Click. Click.

Even's dark loafers gave a small click upon the tile floor with each step of his nervous pace. Four days had passed, and he still had no clue how he was to obtain the data Master Ansem required. Frustrated, he threw himself into the leather-clad chair of his Gummi Ship and stared blankly at the dashboard. All the data he had collected about the three misfits appeared on the screen in cyan letters; their behavior, their sleeping and eating patterns, their physical and mental differences, and hundreds of other minor observations. However, no matter how much he stared at his data, he had absolutely no clue about what to do.

"Come on, Even!" he thought angrily. "Master Ansem chose you for your creativity, you must not fail him!"

His emerald eyes drifted away from the screen and out the tinted windows of his ship. Outside he noticed Yen Sid's broom servants dutifully clipping the trees, planting flowers, and cleaning the windows of his tower.

"How charming," Even mused to himself. Suddenly, an idea formed in his scientific mind. "Hmm, I wonder…?"

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"I can't believe that we've been here for four days already."

"Yeah, it's been so boring here that it's felt like an eternity!"

"Sora, you're a pain in the fins."

Kairi shook her head at the brunette faery's attitude towards the kingdom. The two were walking through the market streets, spending the munny they'd earned through gardening and other menial tasks. The place was lively with a multitude of fey, such as a satyr selling a bouquet of carnations to a well-attired dragon, a pixie pulling her lavender tresses back with a ribbon, and a group of snickering Samodivas (1) exiting an herb parlor. It was all so charming; how could anyone turn their nose up at it?

"Why would you want to live somewhere boring?" Sora asked, causing Kairi to realize that she had indeed uttered her last thoughts aloud.

"You know my reasons already," Kairi retorted. "I wanted to go to a peaceful safe haven. Being different yourself, I would've thought that you knew what I was talking about."

"What do you mean by that?" Sora asked her in bewilderment.

"Oh, you know..." When Sora gave her a look that indicated he had no clue what she was talking about, Kairi sighed exasperatedly. "The bullying, the judgmental glares, the exclusion and loneliness, the pain of knowing that you'll never fit in... Don't tell me you haven't experienced any of that!

Sora chuckled lightly in response, which surprised Kairi.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"What's funny is how worked up you are over that," he replied simply. "Sure, I've dealt with some stares and bullying. I never let it get to my head, though. I stand my ground and show them that they can't hurt me that easily!"

He grinned at this statement, jabbing a finger at his own chest. "If there's one thing that bugs me the most, it's running away from your problems. That's why I didn't want to come here."

Kairi stared in shock at the small faery's speech. All this time, she thought that Sora was just being pigheaded about the whole situation. She had been unaware of his true opinion, an opinion that made her question her own motives. Why had she wanted to come here? Did she truly just want to run away from her problems?

Yes, she realized. In fact, that's all she had been doing this whole time. She had been running away from her problems, but most of all, she had been running away from herself.

Suddenly, she felt a strong urge to stop running from herself, as Sora and Riku were. She was going to run towards her problems and discover why.

"What's got you so quiet?" Sora asked the silent half-mermaid curiously.

"Oh, nothing," she replied dismissively. "C'mon, let's go find Riku and see if he's discovered any way to sneak into Yen Sid's tower."

"Whoa, you actually want to do that now?" Sora exclaimed.

"You could say that," she replied, smiling.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Hey Riku, we bought some food!" Sora said cheerfully as they barged into the Moon Elf's cabin. It was oblique in shape, with various constellations and worlds circling the twilight-colored surface of the house. Its roof was milky-white in color, although it could be easily removed so its resident could stare into the night sky instead. The interior walls were similar to those of the outside, only images of swirling galaxies joined the nighttime wonders. Sleek white furniture lined the inside of the house, including the armchair in which Riku was sitting in with a large book.

"It's about time," Riku retorted, casting his book aside and accepting the wild boar sandwich that Kairi handed him.

"Anyway, I may have thought up a strategy for sneaking into Yen Sid's tower," he reported to the other two fey, who were digging into their own meals as he spoke.

"What is it?" Kairi asked eagerly. Riku raised an eyebrow at her sudden eagerness, but continued on about his plan.

"Yen Sid leaves his tower daily at around noon to explore the town and to make sure that everything is running smoothly, correct?"

Kairi and Sora nodded.

"I thought that we could use Sora's pixie dust to shrink and fly into the window of the highest point of the structure. From there, we'll search the room for anything that may be useful and leave as quickly as possible."

"Wow, that seems really easy," Sora remarked.

"Indeed," Riku agreed. "I figured that Yen Sid would never consider that anyone from the town would sneak into his office."

"There is one problem though," Sora added sheepishly. "I can't make us fly. I haven't bloomed yet, remember?"

"I knew that you couldn't fly, but why can't your faery dust make us fly?" Kairi pointed out.

"Psh, only faeries who have bloomed can do that with faery dust." Sora explained. "I can shrink us, but that's about it."

"Is that why you haven't checked out the treetop town for faeries?"

"Yep."

"Well, that plan is unusable," Riku muttered, rubbing his temples as he said this.

"We could still use the plan," Kairi said thoughtfully. "We'd just have to walk as opposed to flying."

"That's extremely risky though, Kairi," Riku told the half-mermaid. "If we can't think of any other plan, we'll do it. However, I don't want to try that unless absolutely necessary."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door.

Riku swung open the front door to find a human with long blonde hair and a scientific lab coat standing in the doorway. If his assumptions were correct, this was Scientist Even. His mysterious jade eyes met Riku's opalescent ones, jade eyes that were filled with an unsettling expression that one looks upon a successful lab rat with.

"Ah, if it isn't young Master Riku," Even said cordially. "Do you remember me?"

"Yes, I do. You're Master Even, are you not?" Riku replied.

"Why yes, I am. I'm surprised that you remember me," Even said.

"Well, what brings you here?" Riku asked as Sora and Kairi joined him at the door.

"I was merely hoping that you would be willing to partake in a couple of tests for scientific purposes," Even explained. "They're perfectly harmless, plus they may aid you in discovering some of the answers that you are looking for."

The teens turned to look at each other. Even certainly was a creepy person, and they weren't sure if they could trust him. However, this was more than Yen Sid offered them. Should they let this opportunity slip by?

"Fine, we'll participate in your tests," Riku answered for the three of them.

"Splendid!" Even exclaimed happily, a mysterious glint shone in his eye. "Follow me to my ship and we'll complete them in no time."

In the distance, Yen Sid skeptically watched the four of them walk to the Gummi Ship.

"Master Even, what scientific plot do you have brewing?" he asked himself mysteriously.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"If you don't mind, I would like to work with each of you individually," Even told them as they approached the red, yellow, and blue aircraft. The three were reluctant to be alone with the strange scientist, yet they agreed to it anyway.

"I'll go first," Kairi volunteered.

"Brilliant! Sora and Riku, would you mind waiting out here?"

"Well -" Sora tried to say, but Riku cut him off.

"Of course."

"Thank you. Kairi should be out within a half hour." Even gestured for Kairi to follow him through the bright-yellow doorway, and then they disappeared into the strange scientific structure.

"Just let her go. Even wouldn't dare try anything funny in Yen Sid's domain," Riku told Sora.

"How do you know?" Sora challenged

"Trust me on this one," Riku replied simply.

The two sat in silence for a moment, until finally Riku broke it.

"Once we find out why we are misfits, what do you plan on doing?" he asked the faery.

"Figure out how to end it. Being trapped at age ten without being able to fly gets pretty boring after a few years," Sora replied half-jokingly. "How about you?"

"I don't know," Riku admitted. "I'd have to hear the reason before deciding. However, I may try to remove my differences as well. After the Calling…" His voice trailed off upon his last words.

"What's a 'calling?'" Sora asked, confused.

"The Calling is like a formal version of blooming. All the teenaged elves gather together under a full moon, and the leader calls upon the spirits to bestow each elf with their individual gifts," Riku explained.

"Oh, I get it!" Sora said. "And you said earlier that there's only one Moon Elf at a time, but you're the second one in existence right now, right?"

Riku nodded slowly.

"I don't get why you can't just say that," Sora muttered.

"The spirits weren't too happy with my result," Riku replied shortly.

Sora shrugged, but didn't press the matter further. Instead, he busied himself by kicking nearby rocks into the edge of the forest.

After what seemed like forever, Kairi and Even appeared in the entranceway to the Gummi Ship. The redhead was sopping wet, but other than that she appeared to be fine.

"How did it go?" Sora and Riku asked in unison.

"It was completely harmless. I didn't know half the stuff he was doing, but it all seemed fine to me," Kairi reported.

"Why are you all wet?" Sora asked.

"One of the tests was swimming in the water," she explained. "And I found out that I can get my tail back just by swimming in saltwater!"

"That's great!" Sora exclaimed.

"Who would like to go next?" Even asked the remaining two.

"I'll go," Riku responded.

"Wonderful! Follow me, please," Even said, beckoning for Riku to follow. As Kairi had done earlier, the two disappeared into the Gummi Ship before them.

The inside of the Gummi Ship was a strange place. The cockpit was similar in color to the outside, including the solid blue chairs in front of the computer built into the dashboard, and the yellow steering wheel. Once they entered into the back of it, however, the scene completely changed. The circular room was pure white and had a very sterile feel to it. Foreign metallic equipment lined the sides of the space, leaving the center of the room completely vacant. Two small pools of water were in the very back of the room, one being labeled 'saltwater' and the other 'freshwater.'

"Would you mind sitting right over there?" Even asked, gesturing to a metal chair. "I just need to grab a few simple materials."

Riku obeyed and sank into the white cushion of the silver fold-out chair. When Even returned with a large syringe and cloth, Riku immediately tensed up.

"Don't worry, I'm merely taking a blood sample. You'll feel a little pinch, that's all," Even explained. Riku still didn't like the idea, but he allowed the scientist to tie elastic around his forearm and dab an area of skin below it with liquid. Within seconds, Even had drawn the golden fey blood from his body and was carefully pouring the substance into a test tube.

"Wow, I didn't even notice," Riku commented.

"I'm an expert at this," Even replied proudly. "You won't find anyone who can handle needles as well as I."

Riku wasn't sure if that was good or bad to hear.

Even went on to take several pictures of Riku from almost every angle possible, swab his mouth with cotton, and have him run on a treadmill for fifteen minutes. Finally, they came to the final test.

"All I need you to do is drink this." Even held up a small vial of a shimmering substance.

"What is it?" Riku asked suspiciously.

"You should be able to figure it out," Even said as he handed it to the silver-haired teen. Sure enough, Riku recognized the material immediately - freshly caught moonlight. It shouldn't harm him, being a Moon Elf and all.

"You just want me to drink this?" he asked the scientist.

"Not the whole vial, of course. Just a small taste will do," Even said as he pulled a clipboard off his desk.

Riku shrugged, weighing out his options. If he wanted answers, he'd have to try it. He pulled the cork out of the phial and took a small sip, and then handed it back to Even. Immediately, he felt a warm sensation run through every inch of his body, as a soft glow rolled off his skin, emanating from his core. It was similar to how Serah had appeared on the night of the Calling, except on a much smaller scale. The phenomenon ended after several seconds, though it left Riku feeling amazing after the breathtaking sensation.

"Marvelous, marvelous!" Even praised Riku, the strange glint returning once more in his eyes. "You are done in here. Would you mind sending Sora up?"

"Of course," Riku replied, avoiding the human's gaze. With that, he left the Gummi Ship and sent his faery friend in.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Meanwhile on Destiny Islands, four teens were sitting at the edge of the blitzball court. They were all sopping wet and panting, as though they had just finished a game.

"You had some nice moves back there, Wakka!" Sazh said, giving the ginger island elf a high-five.

"Thanks, man!" Wakka replied in his heavy accent. "I can't say that my shots are as good as Riku's were, but they're getting there."

"Who's that?" Sazh asked.

"You know, the friend I brought from up north. He had silver hair and hadn't played before, ya?"

"I don't remember a Riku," Shuyin said thoughtfully, running a hand through his dirty-blonde hair.

"I don't know. He sounds familiar to me," Tidus said.

"He went with your brother, uh…" Wakka paused, struggling to remember the name of Tidus's brother.

"Sora?" Tidus suggested helpfully.

"Yeah, that's right. They went to... uh... somewhere with another girl. Where did they go, man?" Wakka asked Tidus.

"You know, I can't remember." Tidus frowned, scratching leaf-filled hair.

"Huh, that's weird. Let's ask your parents when we get back. 'Kay, man?"

"Yeah, they'll remember!" Tidus said brightly.

"Break over!" Sazh shouted. On that note, the four teens jumped back into the arena and continued playing their game.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**(1) Samodivas are earth spirits in Slavic mythology. I just thought I'd get a little cultural and fancy-pants. Go Slavic myths!**

**Please review! It would motivate me to write another chapter. :P**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello, peoples! A new chapter had dawned.**

**Just so y'all know: Even is Vexen's somebody, Myde is Demyx's somebody, and Arlene is Larxene's somebody. I'm sorry for not mentioning it earlier!**

**Anon Review…**

**Nin4: Yes, you have found my story again! I did do kind of a funky spelling, sorry about that. XD Yen Sid is getting a little creepy. His age is making him go cuckoo. And no, Olette isn't evil. Speaking of Olette, she ran away from the story. I should probably go hunt her down…later. :P All will be revealed at a later date…**

**Thanks again to my beta reader, Mystics Apprentice! You should check out her stories sometime. ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: Believe it or not, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. *"You don't say?" Face***

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Lurking in the shadows of his office, Yen Sid watched Sora, Riku, and Kairi bid their farewells to Even and leave the Gummi Ship through his crystal ball.

"What exactly is that scientist planning?" Yen Sid muttered to himself while gazing upon the image of the blonde human. He figured that the scientist must have a dastardly plan to steal the children from him, and to use them for his scientific purposes. Yen Sid could not allow this to happen!

Yen Sid rose from his chair and walked over to withdraw an ancient spell book from one of his many bookshelves. It was fairly simple in appearance, with its black leather cover and yellowed pages. Carefully, he turned to a page somewhere in the center and began scanning down the page for the enchantment he desired. Finally, he found the simple couplet he'd been searching for written in the ancient language.

"Ah, here it is!" he exclaimed to himself. Placing the book on his desk, he began to wave his arms in elaborate patterns and chant the incantation in a deep, commanding tone. A cloud of violet dust began to form in the center of his small office, growing with every word that spilled out of his mouth. Silvery dust particles flew in from the windows and joined the small dust devil, yet not a grain of which fell upon the floor. After several short moments, Yen Sid's voice drifted off with the wind and carried the silvery purple storm with it. In place of the storm stood three squat, dark creatures with a hungry gleam in their eyes.

"Sneak into Even's Gummi Ship before he leaves," he told the creatures. "When you discover his plans, destroy them and leave no traces behind." The creatures appeared to nod their heads, and then slunk out of the office.

"It's time to start playing dirty, my scientific friends," Yen Sid said, chuckling darkly as he watched the creatures leave his room. "After all, only one of us can be successful in our goals."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Run…

Friends…disappear…

Don't…afraid…

You'll...one….

…door…

Colors. Colors everywhere.

A sword. A shield. A staff.

Choose your wea…

Don't…afraid…

Is that…choice?

An image in the colors. Was that him?

Choose…fight…

Falling once again.

Falling.

Falling.

Colors appear again. Is that the ground?

Shadows are appearing. They're crawling closer.

And closer.

And closer.

They're attacking. Get away!

Where did this sword come from?

Striking them down, one by one.

The shadows stop coming.

Don't be afraid.

You'll be the one to open the door.

Thump. Thump. A shadow looms over.

It's huge!

Smash.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

_Sploosh._

"Sora, wake up!"

Sora fell to the ground, finding himself to be once again drenched in water. Kairi snorted at the sight, and then placed the bucket down on the ground. "Do I have to keep waking you up this way?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that I sleep heavily!" Sora protested. He wrung out the T-shirt that he wore for bed, which added to the puddle of water at the foot of his bed.

"Is it those weird dreams again?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah," Sora responded. "It's probably nothing though. Anyway, why did you wake me up this time?"

"Master Even leaves today. I was hoping that we could go ask him when he would give us the results of his testing," Kairi explained.

"Okay, that's cool with me," Sora said nonchalantly.

"Great! I'll go see if Riku's ready while you get dressed." With that, she skipped out of Sora's island bungalow.

The boy sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair. "_Hopefully creepy Even will provide some answers," _he thought. He yawned, exhausted from the previous night's endeavors and then began to change into his everyday clothes.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Kairi and Riku were waiting patiently outside when Sora appeared from the doorway.

"Are we ready?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora replied.

The trio followed the dirt road until Yen Sid's tower came into view. To the right stood the familiar Gummi Ship, and Even beside it with his hands full of scientific devices. He was using a metal wrench to detach the stand in which the Gummi Ship had rested upon for the duration of his stay, and he didn't appear to notice his visitors. Finally, Riku cleared his throat. This caught Even's attention, as he then set his wrench down and turned towards the teens.

"Oh, why hello there," Even said in a surprised tone. "What are you three doing up?"

"We just came to say goodbye, and—"

"—Ask when you would have the results to answer our inquiries," Riku finished.

Even scratched his head thoughtfully. "I would assume in about two days," he responded. Then, he pulled out three devices from the side pocket of his lab coat. "It's a good thing that you came before I left. I meant to give you these, but it must have slipped my mind." He handed one device to each of the three teens.

"Cool, a phone!" Sora exclaimed. "I've always wanted one of these. Sazh and Shuyin had them, but they didn't work that well back at the faery reservation."

"Ooh, a phone?" Kairi muttered excitedly. "I remember learning about these, but they're way cooler in real life!"

While the other two teens were busily hitting random buttons on their cellular devices, Riku merely stared blankly at it. "What's a phone?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just a little device that you can contact me on. My number is already programmed into it, and I constructed a little cell phone tower in the forest that should enable it to work properly."

"I still don't understand it," Riku admitted as he pocketed it.

"Don't worry, I'll show you how to use it!" Sora told him.

"Anyway," Even continued, "this device works both ways. If you ever wish to contact me for any reason, please feel free to."

With that, he turned around and headed towards the entrance of his ship. "Farewell, children."

The three waved in unison at the scientist, who was now inside the cockpit and busily typing away at the terminal. The yellow engines roared to life, sending a wave of flames out the opposite direction. With that, it blasted straight past the teens and slowly began to rise off the ground, until it reached the sky and disappeared.

"Wow, that was something else," Kairi said. The other two nodded along with her, and then looked back to their phones.

"Why do I have the feeling that we'll be the ones calling him?" Riku asked, mainly to himself.

"You're just worrying too much," Sora reassured his friend. "C'mon, let's go back and teach you how to use your new phone."

As they wandered back into the forest, none of them noticed the bearded figure peering at them from the highest window in the tower.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Ah, welcome back, Master Even," a deep voice greeted cordially as Even exited his Gummi Ship. "I assume that you have a plan?"

"I have more than just a plan, Master Ansem," Even replied eagerly. "I have data and materials. All I need is to conduct the experiment with the materials stored in my ship."

"Very good indeed, Even," Ansem said approvingly. "I knew I could count on you. Would you care to explain the details of your experiment in my office?"

"I would love to, but it is crucial that I take these to my lab right away," Even explained.

"Allow me to lend you a hand," Ansem offered.

Even frowned upon this; the great Ansem the Wise was going to transport lab equipment and materials?

At cue, a gangly teenager with a dirty-blonde mullet burst into the room. He wore a dark rock-n-roll T-shirt with leather pants, and large musical note-like wings emerged through slits on the back of his wrinkled lab coat.

"Good morning, sir!" he said, saluting the blonde scientist. "Anything I can do for you? I can cook, clean—"

"Um, who might this be?" Even cut off the rambling faery with a question directed towards Ansem.

"This is Myde, your new lab assistant. He can transport your goods to your lab while we meet in your office," Ansem explained.

"Okay, I'm on it!" Myde called. He rushed to the Gummi Ship, stumbling over his own feet a couple times before reaching the stairs.

"Be careful, and take your time! That's very delicate equipment!" Even shouted at Myde.

"You got it, sir!" he called before opening the entrance to the ship. Even raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but Ansem merely chuckled.

"He's an eccentric faery, but he is a diligent worker," Ansem informed him. "Besides, now I can examine the behavior and living habits of an average faery. I didn't wish to pass up such an opportunity."

"Anyway, shall we head to your lab?" Even prompted.

"Of course, let us go now." Ansem beckoned for Even to follow him into the elevator. As they left, the Gummi Ship's door swung open to reveal Myde, carrying a stack of boxes towering above his head.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to make a couple of trips!" he panted to himself. He glided through the sliding glass doors at the front of the hangar, which thankfully led straight to Even's lab. He placed the boxes in the center of the lab, and continued to repeat this process until the ship was completely empty.

Throughout this process, he never noticed Yen Sid's creatures watching him from the shadows of the room.

"Whew, finally!" Myde gasped, dropping the last pile of boxes onto the ground. "I guess I should start unpacking now."

The first few boxes contained miscellaneous items that were usual for a science lab: test tubes, microscopes, lasers, safety goggles, notes, folders and hundreds of pictures of three fey. Myde busied himself with filing the papers in the cabinet residing at the back of the room and placing the larger materials neatly on the counters. When he began to empty the other boxes, however, Myde found some very peculiar substances. Three vials labeled S, K, and R respectively had a liquid that looked suspiciously like faery blood. There were petri dishes with hair follicles, skin cells, faery dust, and even mermaid scales. There was even a huge box with a giant fish tank filled with salt water, a fact that he discovered when he accidentally opened it from the wrong side.

"Scientists sure are crazy people," Myde commented. "I hope he doesn't poke me with a needle; that would be really scary!"

As the rocker faery was rambling to himself, a shattering sound filled the room.

CRASH.

Myde froze in his place. Slowly, he turned to see three dark creatures looming ominously over Master Even's materials lying in a messy pile on the ground. The golden blood was seeping out of the shattered remains of the test tubes, while the various petri dish items had lost their lids and were now mingling together in a giant pile.

"Uh-oh," Myde squeaked. The creatures whipped their heads toward the lab assistant, and in unison they began to crawl towards him. He slowly began to back up, but the creatures only sped up until they had driven the poor faery into the wall. The musical notes in his jade eyes bounced around rapidly in fear as the creatures surrounded him and prepared to pounce. In an act of panic, Myde grabbed a random bottle filled with a foul-smelling liquid and doused the creatures with it. It turned out to be some sort of acid, because the creatures began to fizzle as the fluid ate away at their skin until only a black shell remained.

Myde exhaled heavily. There was one situation down, only one more to go. He stared around hopelessly at the mess the creatures made. If they found out, he would surely be fired!

Suddenly, a crazy idea popped up in his mind.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"…Why yes, it is a very clever idea. I'm surprised that I didn't think of it myself. You have outdone yourself this time, Even," Ansem said warmly to his companion.

"Why thank you, Master Ansem," Even replied, bowing his head in respect. "It is an honor to receive such praise from you."

"You gave the children the cellular devices just in case, I presume?" Ansem asked.

"Of course, Master Ansem. They're expecting a call on their results after all," Even said in an amused voice. Ansem frowned, but said nothing as they entered Even's lab.

They were surprised to find the lab not only completely unpacked, but organized and scrubbed spotless as well. In the corner of the room was Myde, who appeared to be finishing up mopping the ground.

"Hello, sir!" he greeted energetically. "I figured that I'd tidy up a little in here as well. Do you like it?"

Even was unsure of what to say, so Ansem answered for him. "Of course, young Master Myde; you are quite the hard worker."

Even nodded in agreement. "Yes, thank you very much. Now, would you mind transporting three small memory pods up here? They are stored in the basement, which is easily accessible with the elevator."

"Yes, sir!" Myde replied. He darted out the doors and into the elevator, releasing a long-preserved breath along the way. Before they'd arrived, he had hastily swept the faery blood randomly into three new vials and separated the other samples into fresh petri dishes, so that they would appear to be untouched. However, even he knew that he had mixed the substances around, and that probably wasn't a good thing. Hopefully, nothing too bad would happen.

After a few minutes, the elevator doors slid open to reveal the basement floor. With a heavy sigh, Myde stepped out and grabbed the first of three memory pods.

By the time that he had brought the third one up, Even was already busily studying the items in the petri dishes and mixing them in a large container filled with a steaming blue liquid. As Myde dragged the memory pod beside the other two, he asked Even, "So, whatcha doin' with all this stuff?"

"None of your business," Even responded curtly. He poured a container of the faery blood into a graduated cylinder carefully before standing up and turning to his assistant.

"Thank you for your assistance today, Myde. Master Ansem should have your daily wages in your work locker," he said.

Myde's eyes lit up in delight upon this.

"Thanks a ton, sir!" he exclaimed. "I'll be here bright and early to help you with your, uh…" he hesitated, glancing at the memory pods. "Your pod…people…"

The name that Myde gave Even's project was not without reason. Inside the first of the pods, a human silhouette was barely visible behind its milky-blue, plastic walls.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Yet another dull and uneventful day passed in Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits. Sora's restlessness was beginning to rub onto Riku, who was staring blankly at the starry sky above him from his bed. Yen Sid was being as aloof as ever, if not even more since Master Even's departure. It was frustrating, especially for Riku. He sighed irritably before rolling over to his side. Would Yen Sid ever reveal what he knew about the three of them?

After much irritable pondering about what the warlock could be hiding from them, Riku finally drifted into a deep sleep. However, he was not expecting what awaited him in the Realm of Dreams.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Run…

Friends…disappear…

Don't…afraid…

Colors. Colors everywhere.

A sword. A shield. A staff.

choose your we…

Don't…afraid…

Is that…choice?

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**If you don't review, Yen Sid might sneak into your house in the middle of the night and watch you in your sleep. Just a fair warning; after all, it's your choice. :P**


	13. Chapter 13: Reciprocals

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to the drama-llama chapter. :D**

**Huzzah, I have reached over 30 reviews; therefore, the cookies have been doubled! (Turkish Delights are a pain to make…)**

**It seems as if Yen Sid's creepiness brought you all here. I guess I'll have to call up the fanfic police to take him away temporarily.**

**ANON REPLIES~**

**Voldemort has no nose:**** Nice name! Anyway, I'm glad that you think this story is amazing! I do it all on my own…nope, no betas or anything to edit my grammar or spelling…*hides trap door labeled "beta reader"* As for your question, several of them shall be arriving shortly. I really want to involve the Birth by Sleep characters in eventually, but I'm still working on how to do that smoothly. :/ No worries, I like long reviews the best because they offer the most feedback for my stories. :D Thanks for your review!**

**Nin4: Haha, really? Poor Riku and human technology. XD Oh Myde… he's silly, but his heart's in the right place! No worries, I'm calling the fanfic police on him. However, he is a warlock; there's no saying of he's escape from the police…anyway, thanks for reviewing again!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. (True story, bro)**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Kairi waited impatiently outside of Riku's cabin. The sun was well up into the sky, leaving her to assume that it was roughly around midmorning. What on earth was Riku doing? He never slept in this late; after all, it was in his elven nature to wake up moments after the crack of dawn. Was he okay? Did something terrible happen last night? Kairi's imagination began running away from her, speeding up at the same rate as her racing heart.

_"It's okay,"_ she thought in an attempt to placate herself. _"This kingdom is safe from anything harmful, according to Master Yen Sid."_

Her efforts to calm herself, however, were made in vain. Finally, she threw open the door to her friend's house and barged into his room.

There he was, lying on his bed, sleeping like the dead. Sora must've been rubbing off on him, Kairi thought, relieved that nothing serious had happened to him.

Well, it seemed as if she was going to have to awaken him. She turned to grab a pitcher to fill with water when Riku's opalescent eyes shot open. After a moment of appearing disoriented, he leaped out of bed and rushed out of the house, leaving Kairi in the doorway of his room.

"What just happened?" she asked herself.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Sora, get up!" Riku commanded, barging into the faery's room. The brunette was up already, an occurrence that had never happened before.

"Riku?" Sora muttered stupidly.

"Weren't you having reoccurring dreams about falling and a disembodied voice?" Riku demanded urgently.

Sora scratched his head and eyed the ceiling. "Yeah, I guess I have. I finally got to the end of it last night though. That must be why I woke up," he said thoughtfully. "Why do you ask?"

"I had the same one last night," Riku deadpanned.

"Whoa, really?" Sora asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," Riku responded. "I mainly felt a falling sensation, but then the voice suddenly began spewing nonsense about making choices and swords. There were shadows there as well, dangerous ones that persisted in attacking me."

"Yeah, that's it!" Sora exclaimed. At this moment, Kairi barged into the house and joined the two guys.

"What's going on here?" she asked them.

"Riku's having the weird dream too," Sora told her. "Hey, did you have it too?"

"I can't say that I have," Kairi admitted. She twirled a lock of her auburn hair nervously. "What could this mean?"

"I wager that Yen Sid would know," Riku guessed. "He was the one that mentioned something about the dreams in the first place."

"That's a good idea; let's go talk to him about it!" Sora said. He began to head out the door when Kairi stopped him abruptly.

"Wait, how do we know that he'll actually talk to us?" Kairi pointed out. "He's been pretty reluctant to tell us anything so far."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to try," Sora said.

"He's right, we may as well attempt to ask him," Riku admitted. "We're going to have to be more persistent this time though."

Sora and Kairi nodded in unison, and then left the cabin for Yen Sid's tower.

As soon as they stepped outside, a familiar orange light approached the three. Faery dust exploded from the light, and their friend Olette appeared in her full height.

"Hey, where are you guys going? You look really determined today," she said observantly. "Can I come?"

"Um, well…" Kairi's voice trailed off, as she turned to her friends uncertainly. Her gaze then returned to Olette as she continued, "We're just going to talk to Master Yen Sid."

"Oh, is this about the whole 'answers' thing again?" Olette groaned. She crossed her arms and leaned on one hip, as if she was reprimanding a child. "I told you that he gives his answers in due time. He's a warlock; he can tell you whenever he wishes."

"Has he ever told you in the four years that you've dwelt here?" Riku challenged.

Olette's glimmering green eyes shifted nervously from side to side. "No, but—"

"We can't just sit around and wait here forever; we have to do something eventually," Sora said. "We have to take action if we want to get anywhere. We're going to talk to Yen Sid, and there's nothing you can say to change that. Besides, I'm gonna go crazy if I stay in this boring place any longer. Sorry, 'lette."

They walked past her and up the earthen path, leaving the light faery frozen from her old friend's words.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"We wish to talk to Yen Sid," Kairi told the broom, who stood in front of the tower door. It swung its wooden handle back and forth as if to nod, and then opened the door. It beckoned for the teens to follow him inside.

The only object within the foyer was a large, spiraling staircase. Magic twinkled in the empty space around it, floating aimlessly and bouncing off the tan brick walls.

"Not very decorative, is he?" Sora commented.

They followed the little broom up the slate-gray staircase until they reached a door frame. Oddly enough, there was no door, but instead a bright, portal-reminiscent light filled the silvery frame. The broom walked straight through it and disappeared from sight, leaving the teens no choice but to follow. On the other side, there was…

…another giant spiral staircase.

"What is this sorcery?" Riku demanded as he glared at the broom, who shrugged with its thin, twig-like arms. He continued to walk up the staircase and into another light-filled entrance leading to more stairs. This cycle continued for what felt like hours, although it couldn't have been more than thirty-minutes. Finally, just when the trio was growing accustomed to seeing another flight of stairs on the other side of the light, they appeared in a small office-like space. Three wax candles hovered in the air, casting a dim light and illuminating the room's features: overstuffed bookshelves lining the walls, an indigo rug on the ground, and a light oak desk in the center of the room. A large window in the back was covered by a thick, velvety curtain, which made the dim candlelight appear brighter. A heavy silence filled the room, a sensation that unnerved the visitors.

"Ah, if it isn't Sora, Riku, and Kairi," Yen Sid said as he emerged from the shadows. His navy-blue robes billowed around him due to a sudden gust of wind, a spectacle that gave him an even more powerful appearance. "I presume that you are here for answers once more?"

"You've got that right!" Sora replied with a determined expression. "How did you know about the dreams? Why is Riku having them now? Why—"

"All in due time, my child," Yen Sid responded, a strange grin creeping upon his face.

"We don't wish to wait until your 'due time,' Master," Riku said angrily. "Our lives are wasting away as we sit in this kingdom doing absolutely nothing besides reveling in our naivety."

The warlock chuckled mysteriously before bowing his head. "Ah, I see that I cannot withhold my knowledge any longer." At that moment, a glowing green circle appeared in the room beside the desk, and the soft wind picked up to a cool, brisk gale.

"I had hoped that you would enjoy your life a little bit longer, but I can see that you are in a rush to disappear," he told them.

"D—disappear?" Kairi sputtered, taking a step back.

"You see, my dears," he continued without acknowledging Kairi. "Your arrival was prophesied by my master centuries ago."

"What?" Sora exclaimed in disbelief.

"Riku!" As Yen Sid shouted this, he threw a handful of silver and aqua sparks into the middle of the green circle. "You were chosen to become a Moon Elf due to your nature, regardless of the fact that one still lived at the time. You are yin and yang. You are light and dark. You are the perfect balance of two opposite entities. You symbolize the dark of night, which is completely illuminated by the glow of the seemingly small moon. Together, they counteract each other until the sun arises. You are the key to dawn's arrival!"

In the center of the circle, a strange sword took form. The blade itself was reminiscent of a bat wing, with deep-violet bones and crimson skin between the fingers. However, a small angel's wing branched off at the top, something that somehow made the blade appear less sinister. The hilt was composed of wings as well; one of an angel's and one from a bat, and silvery paopu fruit (1) was heavily chained to the base of it. A transparent phrase appeared beneath the weapon, which read in golden letters: "Way to the Dawn."

"Sora!" he roared, this time throwing azure faery dust into the ring. "You are a symbol of light and childlike innocence. You brighten the lives of those around you, and will fight at all costs for the right thing. You are a child in appearance until your maximum potential is reached and your innocence solidified. You are a righteous faery; a faery of his word. You are the Oathkeeper of the light!"

The winged sword dissolved into a powdery mist and reformed as a new weapon. The hilt was made of a pair of seraphic wings, and two solid white blades ran parallel together from it. At the top, they intersected in a heart and formed five blue spikes on the side. Golden accents ran on the tips of the spikes and on the outermost side of the heart, and a small paopu fruit was chained to the bottom. The text too had changed; it now read "Oathkeeper" in shining calligraphy.

"Whoa, what's—" Sora attempted to say, but Yen Sid cut him off with another shout.

"Kairi! Have you caused anyone harm with malicious intent?" he demanded from the mermaid.

"O—of course not!" she stuttered in response.

"Did you ever hate those who bade you ill?"

"No! Why would I ever do that?"

"My point has been proven," Yen Sid boomed, causing the brisk winds to pick up even more. "You have no need for a Delve into the Heart; your heart is too pure for that. You were the product of a human and a mermaid, a symbol of harmony between two feuding races. You were created from an untainted love, and, unlike your sister, you managed to keep that same purity throughout your life.

"However, your purity has caused you to flee from your problems because you believed that you were the contaminant, the impure, and the tainted one. You are just now learning to embrace yourself and your fate."

Oathkeeper, like its predecessor, dissolved and reformed as a golden sword. Two segments of a heart formed the haft, one composed of a sand-colored, leafy vine and the other of a clear-blue tidal wave. The said vine wrapped elegantly around the blade and formed a second heart to the side of the blade's tip. Bright tropical flowers blossomed around this, and a paopu fruit akin to Oathkeeper's was fastened to the bottom with an orange rope. "Destiny's Embrace" appeared in a curly manuscript, naming the unique blade.

"These are the weapons of your souls; it's a pity that you won't be able to use them," Yen Sid said sorrowfully.

"None of this makes any sense!" Sora exclaimed angrily. "You're just making things more confusing."

Riku stood in silence, carefully choosing his next words. Finally, he said slowly, "You need these weapons for some reason. Is that why you said that we'll disappear?"

"You're a smart one, young Riku," Yen Sid said darkly. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time to explain why." As he said this, the green ring filled with an explosion of light. The wind shifted directions and began to swirl around the light, picking up various books and scrolls from around the room. The trio felt the wind attempting to draw them into the suspicious circle, but its current wasn't strong enough. Sensing this, the wind increased in strength and magnitude. As the three teens began to lose their footing under the pressure of the wind, Yen Sid began to grin in an evil manner.

"Yes, I shall finally obtain my desire!" he howled over the roaring of the wind.

"Quick, grab each other's hands!" Riku cried, holding his hands out blindly in the swirling mess. Sora grabbed his outstretched hand, and then turned around to grasp Kairi's and pull her in closer. With her other hand, she seized Riku's left hand to form a circle.

"Get close to the ground!" Sora shouted, dropping into a kneeling position. Riku and Kairi followed his lead, and it helped relieve some of the wind's power.

_Smack._

_Slap._

_CRASH._

The wind was picking up to a vicious speed, which drew more and more books into the hurricane. It felt as if they were targeting the trio; trying to get them to break down and separate.

Whack.

Riku clenched his jaw as another book slammed into his back. They couldn't keep this up forever, after all.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Myde happily glided up to the research center. It was his second day on the job, a rare occurrence for his accident-prone self. He hummed a happy tune under his breath as he grew to a normal size and entered the door, ignoring Arlene's harsh glares. Throwing on his white lab coat over his usual garb, he skipped into Even's laboratory, only to find the scientist himself grinning maniacally at his memory pods. Each of them held a human silhouette now, although it was impossible to make out any of their features.

"Ah, you are right on time," Even told his assistant. "Now you shall see my miraculous creations! You should be excited; you'll be the first to see them."

Myde, however, was not that thrilled to see the mystery project. In fact, he was a little creeped out by both him and the figures he had created. However, he put his foot in his mouth and attempted to sound as excited as possible. Ah, the things people do for money.

"O—of course!" he forced out. "I can't wait to see these the…what are they?"

"You shall see soon enough," Even replied simply.

The automatic doors flew open shortly after Even's cryptic statement, and in stepped the great Ansem the Wise. His signature red scarf flew majestically behind him as he entered, adding to his powerful presence.

"Your project is complete, I hear?" he asked in his deep, booming voice.

"Yes, Master Ansem. I worked late into the night to make sure that it would be perfect," he stated proudly. He arose from a swivel chair that he'd been sitting on and strode over to the pods. "Are you ready to see my masterpiece?"

"Get on with it already," Ansem retorted impatiently.

"Of course, Master Ansem," Even responded apologetically. He grabbed a remote from his desk and quickly entered a passcode. Myde nervously tapped his foot alongside Ansem. His hands were clutching the side of his face, ready to move and cover his eyes in case the figures were evil gremlins or another horrible creature.

Finally, the pods began to open.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

As if the howling winds and repetitive book attacks weren't enough, the entire room began to tremble and tilt wildly. Sora, Riku, and Kairi could no longer stay in one place, and they could only depend on each other's hands to maintain some stability and comfort. However, while they may have not been able to sweat like humans, their grips were beginning to weaken.

"Can't we do anything?" Kairi screamed over the chaos.

"I don't know!" Sora yelled back.

"Well, we had better come up with something, or else we aren't going to last much longer!" Riku shouted.

_SWWOOOSHH._

_SLAM._

"OW!"

_CHINK._

"You won't last much longer!" Yen Sid cried malevolently, stirring the wind up even faster. It felt like a million needles were tearing at their skin, burning them and bringing tears to their eyes.

They had to do something, and fast!

_BAM._

"AIE!" Kairi squealed. A book hurled itself at her left hand, startling her into unclasping her right.

"Kairi!" Sora and Riku shouted, desperately trying to grab her.

BAM. Sora's hands were mauled by a large textbook, causing him to lose his grasp on Riku's hand. Now they were all free flying in the wind, smashing into furniture, and falling into the hole…

_Beep. Beeep. Beep. Beeep._

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!"

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"What in Radiant Garden are these things!" Even cried angrily, glaring at the contents of the pods. Ansem merely stared at the creations, an unreadable expression painted on his face. Out of curiosity, Myde lowered his hands to take a peek at what Even's outburst was about.

Inside each of the pods was a teenager, no older than fifteen. The youngest was a petite blonde with an angular face. Her skin was akin to that of an islander's; flawless and sun-kissed. Her hair was layered to frame her face, and then wrapped around her neck to fall past her shoulders. Azure, cloud-filled eyes stared blankly into space, vacant of any signs of life. On her back, she had two translucent faery wings that were barely visible over her shoulders. She was adorable, if Myde said so himself.

The second girl appeared to be a little bit older. Her navy-blue locks fell to the nape of her neck and glimmered in the harsh light of the lab, almost like a mermaid's. She too had perfectly tanned skin and cobalt eyes, but her features were softer and bubbles replaced the clouds in her eyes. She would have appeared to be a normal human if it weren't for her hair and pointed ears.

The third was actually a male. With his wispy silver hair and pale features, he was almost identical to Riku. His traits differed slightly from the Moon Elf's, for his slightly shorter and less muscular body led the scientists to conclude that he was younger than the real Riku himself. The most striking difference was his eyes, which were a mix of striking aquamarine and warm cerulean.

"They're ruined!" Even cried furiously.

"They look nice to me, Master Even," Myde told the scientist comfortingly. After all, he had been expecting murderous, evil creatures.

"That's not the point!" Even yelled. "They're useless for studying those three specimens on Yen Sid's blasted Kingdom. They look nothing alike!" Even fell to his knees in despair.

"Where could I have gone wrong?" he wailed to himself.

Suddenly, Master Ansem spoke up. "I do not believe that you went wrong in your process; it looks to have worked beautifully. However," he added, "I believe that their genetic coding was contaminated. If you look closely, you can see traits from each of the three young fey in each of them."

With that, he turned to Myde. "You were the one unloading the materials, were you not?"

Gulp. "Yes I was, sir," Myde responded nervously.

"Did anything happen while you were transporting the goods?" Ansem asked the faery.

"Uh oh, what do I do? WHAT DO I DO?" Myde thought anxiously. "Well, I—"

_Beep. Beeep. Beep. Beeep._

Even's cell phone began buzzing and beeping from the desk.

"Answer it," Even told Myde rather forcefully. Myde scampered quickly over to the phone and pressed the glowing button on the screen.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively.

_SLAM. SMASH. CHINK._

_BOOM._

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"KAIRI!"

Myde dropped the phone as a girl began to scream on the other line. In the background, he could barely hear the chanting of a man's voice amongst the sounds of glass shattering and wind howling.

"That sounds like the three that we need. It seems as if Yen Sid has made his move," Ansem said darkly. "Even, come with me!"

He then turned towards the blond faery. "Myde, I want you to dispose of these three in our absence," he briskly told the assistant. Then they were gone, leaving Myde alone with the lifeless fey.

"Well, it's just us," he told them nervously, who received no response in return. "As lifeless as they are, how am I supposed to just throw them out?" Myde thought to himself. He couldn't just throw people away, could he?

Suddenly, the blonde let out a squeal of pain and fell to the floor, clutching her head.

_A young woman with cotton candy-colored pigtails._

_A boy with sandy hair mixed with autumn leaves._

_A green-tailed mermaid with flowing red tresses._

_A red-tailed teenager sporting a black ponytail._

_A raven-haired elf with warm, brown eyes._

_An orange-haired teen with a heavy accent._

_An Island reserve, his home._

_An underwater paradise, her home._

_An evergreen forest, his home._

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Olette rushed into the turmoil of the room, which was starting to die down now that the trio was inside the magic ring.

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" she cried in a panicked tone. She army-crawled up to the base of the ring to see a bottomless green pit. Three figures were caught in the swirling hurricane of green, and a glowing aura was being drawn from their bodies. The three auras were connecting and merging, forming an unknown shape.

"It's too late for them now," Yen Sid chuckled at Olette, who was stifling a sob.

The young light faery glared at the warlock. "I trusted you!" she cried. Then, she expanded her wings and flew into the ring.

-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-

(1) I added a paopu fruit to Riku's blade so it would match Sora and Kairi's. ^^


	14. Chapter 14 The Wind Dies Down

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! Life is goin' schizo-fritz on me as of right now, but I won't let that set me behind too much. :D**

**OMGOMGOMG KINGDOM HEARTS: DREAM DROP DISTANCE CAME OUT TODAY IN JAPAN! *throws confetti* Anyone else cheating and watching the cutscenes on YouTube with me? **

**Anon Reply...**

**nin4: Yes, the keyblades are here! I'm glad that you can't tell which side is truly good; that was my goal. *evil grin* You're the chief of police now? Yen Sid doesn't stand a chance. XD Anyway, no problem! It made sense enough to me. :D**

**Oh, and one more thing: I would like to give a shoutout to my beta reader, Mystics Apprentice! Without her, my chapters would be pretty yucky.**

**DISCLAIMER: What if I told you...that I didn't own Kingdom Hearts?**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Olette had no idea what was happening, or when she would manage to escape. All she knew was that she was trapped tumbling around Yen Sid's strange magic creation, clutching for dear life onto Sora's hood and rapidly approaching the other two teens. Had she honestly thought she could save them?

SLAM.

A table crashed into her body, sending her flying into the only unmoving object in the green vortex: the strange rod that appeared to be connected to her friends through eerie, colorful lights.

Without thinking, she grabbed it. Her wings shot out of her back.

Up. Up. Up.

This thought continued to reverberate in her mind as she fought against the earsplitting storm tooth and nail. Maybe, just maybe she would be free from there soon…

Shouting; she could hear it in the distance, possibly from above her. Was it Yen Sid? No, there were two voices. Wait, a third one?

Shadows danced in her eyes. She couldn't last much longer, that much she knew.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her upward. Who it was, she couldn't care. She couldn't even think or see straight at this point.

The winds seemed to die down around her. She was saved! Slowly, her gold-and-emerald eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her eyelids fell shut.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

It was a strange sensation, floating around in the ring. It was like being almost completely separated from your body with a string tied to your ankle to keep you from flying away. The sights were incredible as well, including a world covered by desert with ancient Arabian villages, and another submerged in water. A simple human high-school was also displayed, as well as a mismatched building flipping in circles with card-men desperately running around. All of these places and many more flew around in rotation at a rapidly increasing pace, until they blurred together in an unending loop of colors.

_There are many worlds,_

_But they share the same sky._

_One sky. One destiny._

The blur of worlds suddenly disappeared, and a colorful ship not unlike Even's took its place in the dark sky. Upon closer inspection, five figures could be seen inside of it. Two appeared to be anthropomorphic animals, one being a lanky dog and the other being a blue-clad duck. The other three, however, were oddly familiar humans. One was a girl with auburn hair that fell past her shoulders and hung in her sapphire eyes. She was dressed in a hot-pink, zippered dress, with a black belt and matchingpouch attached hung loosely around her waist.

Kairi.

The other was a silver-haired teenager with piercing aquamarine eyes and lightly tanned skin. He wore simple mortal clothes; blue jeans and a sleeveless jacket under a pale-yellow vest.

Riku.

The third figure was a lean-muscled teen about the same age as the other Kairi. His clothes were baggy and gray, save for accents of color through a navy-blue shirt, yellow pant buckle, and bright red cargo pouches. If it weren't for his spiky brunet hair and cobalt eyes, he would have been completely unrecognizable.

Sora.

They may have appeared a bit older and more human, but there was no mistaking who they were. The trio on board the Gummi Ship was laughing together, sharing a joke that seemed to have sent the duck into a fit of rage. At that moment, the three teenagers gazed out the window and focused on a particular point in space.

"Watcha lookin' at?" the dog questioned, walking up to them. None of the teens answered, but instead merely focused their eyes upon the unseen object and took a few steps towards the window.

"Do you guys see that?" Sora asked his friends. They nodded in response.

"Hm, that's bizarre," Riku commented. "What could it mean?"

"What? I don't see anything," the duck grumbled, pushing himself between Sora and Riku to peer out the window.

"Wait, they're vanishing!" Kairi gasped.

"What are? Just spit it out already!" the duck practically yelled at them.

"I don't know, Donald; it's pretty unbelievable," Sora cautioned lightly, partially to ruffle the duck named Donald's feathers. It worked, because Donald looked as if he was about to explode with anger.

"Be nice, Sora!" Kairi teased. "It was really weird. There were three ghosts that looked like us, but younger and, well…different."

"All that commotion for silly illusions? Bwaargh!" Donald grunted. He let out an unintelligible string of words, and then stomped off.

"Call me crazy, but I think they weren't just illusions," Riku said thoughtfully to Kairi and Sora.

"I have that same feeling," Kairi agreed.

"I guess, but they were pretty crazy. I mean, I had wings!" Sora said with a chuckle.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Stupid girl!" Yen Sid roared as Olette leaped into his magical storm. "What do you think you are doing?"

"We could ask the same of you,_ Master _Yen Sid."

A golden-bearded man burst into the room, his piercing amber eyes glaring into Yen Sid's clear ones furiously. His scarlet scarf and white coat billowed ominously behind him in the winds, and in his hands was a heavily-modded machine gun. Even followed closely behind him, wielding a similar weapon.

Yen Sid laughed at the scientists. "You think that you can stop me with your ridiculous weapons?" he asked mockingly. "Nothing can stop me from regaining my—"

"As soon as I fire this weapon, the bullets will get caught in your storm and damage not only the fey, but also your creation," Ansem said seriously. "Do you really want to risk that?"

The warlock pursed his lips. It almost seemed as if he were considering Ansem's threat, until he flung his arm out at a floating desk. It was sent flying into Ansem, only he leapt out of the way and onto it instead of allowing it to collide into him.

"Even, grab the rod!" he shouted. Even nodded in response, falling to the ground and crawling army-style to the edge of the pit. Yen Sid snarled angrily, and began throwing books at the blonde scientist. Ansem swatted them away with his gun, and then pulled himself to a standing position on the desk.

"You have to learn to share your property, old friend," Ansem said in a patronizing manner.

"I can't get what I need if you've dismembered them, can I?" Yen Sid returned.

"Who said I was going to dissect them?" Ansem pointed out. Yen Sid ignored him; instead, he chanted a spell and threw the magic at his rival. Ansem pressed a button on his wristwatch, creating a shield to block the enchantment. With his free hand, he pulled out several small objects and threw them at the warlock. He pushed them to the side with the wind, and they scattered around the room.

_BOOM._

They exploded, startling Yen Sid. Ansem seized this opportunity, jumping off the desk with his gun raised high.

_SMACK._

He whacked the sorcerer in the stomach, who was sent flying the opposite direction. Suddenly, the wind began to subside, and the two enemies were sent crashing into the floor, one on top of the other.

"I have them!" Even cried. He was pulling himself out of the green, stormy mess with one hand, and a full-sized faery out with the other. Olette had wrapped herself around Yen Sid's shapeless dark object, which was pulling up Sora, Riku, and Kairi. All the fey were out cold, but they were no longer in harm's way.

Almost immediately, the vortex dissipated into the air. The wind followed suit, dropping various objects haphazardly onto the now-weathered floor.

"It appears as if you've lost this time, friend," Ansem said emotionlessly to the warlock, who was trapped in a state of shock. Seeing that Yen Sid was vulnerable, Ansem picked up his machine gun and raised it to Yen Sid's chest.

"Do it, old fool. I can always heal myself!" Yen Sid sneered, breaking from his trance. Ansem gave the weapon a thoughtful look, as if pondering the idea, and then lowered his weapon.

"I don't think that's an appropriate fate just yet," Ansem retorted. "You still have some explaining to do to the citizens of your town."

"What do you mean?" Yen Sid asked. Ansem merely gestured to the room. The walls had been decimated, leaving the spectacle open to viewers everywhere. And view they did; all the misfits had gathered outside the tower to investigate the commotion, and they were now staring openmouthed at the warlock who they had believed was a kind old man.

"We'll be leaving now." On that note, Ansem turned around and walked over to Even's side. He pressed a few buttons on a wrist gadget, and then vanished from the scene.

With that, the town burst into chaos. People were running frantically around the town, some grabbing their belongings and food while others rushed immediately into the indigo train that they had arrived in.

"My people, there is no need to panic!" Yen Sid bellowed desperately. "The situation can be easily explained!"

The people were too frightened to respond; they merely crammed onto the train with a shaky griffin throwing its claws on random buttons. Before long, Yen Sid was left yelling to a ghost town as the indigo train began to chug away.

"No, come back!" he cried hysterically. "I just wanted…wanted it again…" He fell to the ground, angered by his fate. He had gone from the most powerful man on the verge of obtaining happiness, to a now ruined man.

A small crystal ball rolled to his feet. It was his only undamaged possession left in this world.

"I guess it's just you and I, my crystal ball."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Myde caught the little blonde faery as she collapsed, clutching her head in pain.

"Woah, you okay there?" he asked her, placing her into a chair. She let out an unintelligible groan in response. The silver-haired elf kept rubbing his temples; he seemed to be experiencing a headache as well, albeit to a lesser degree. The bluenette still was as expressionless as ever.

"What is this place?" the male finally asked.

"Well, it's Mister Even's lab," Myde replied, scratching his head thoughtfully. "Who are y'all?"

"I'm not sure," the silver-haired teen admitted. "I have some memories, but they're very…disconnected. How did you find us, anyway?"

"I work here. When I walked in to work, Mister Even had you guys all trapped in these memory pods! He said he created you guys," Myde explained lightly. "But then he took off with Mister Ansem for some sort of emergency."

"Created?" the blonde asked nervously. She appeared to be recovering from her migraine, for color was visibly returning to her cheeks.

"Yep!" Myde said. "He had a collection of some really weird stuff, like faery blood and mermaid scales. Let's not get into that, though." He was not really wanting to discuss his accident.

"But then, why do we have memories?" the elf protested, his aquamarine eyes gleaming anxiously.

"I dunno, I'm no scientist," Myde replied with a shrug. When he saw the crestfallen look on the blonde and silverette's faces, he quickly added, "We may as well start there, though. Maybe we can find something out! What do think of that, Bluey?"

The girl with the midnight-blue hair made no motion to respond, but instead just continued to stare blankly at Myde.

"Oo—okay then. Not creepy at all, nope!" he said, chuckling nervously. "Why don't you go first, Blondie?"

The blonde-haired girl fluttered her translucent wings nervously. "I don't know, I have a lot of memories. It's almost as if they belong to three separate people, but I can't figure out which ones are mine. One's a faery and one's an elf, that much I'm sure. The other is probably a mermaid, but I'm not entirely certain."

"Huh, that's weird," Myde said thoughtfully. "Wouldn't the faery's memories be yours? You're a faery like me, after all."

"I thought so too, but the faery with these memories is a boy."

"Oh." After an awkward pause, Myde continued acting as their psychologist. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. How about you?" he asked, directing this towards the elf.

"Well, I have my memories. At least, I think I do," he replied uncertainly, turning to look at his reflection in the memory pod. "I look different. And then, there's—"

_BOOM._

Ansem and Even had appeared in the room, covered in scorch marks and tattered clothing. Each of them had two unconscious teens on their backs, causing them to hunch over and pant heavily.

"You're back!" Myde said happily, leaping up from his position on the floor. "I—"

"I thought I told you to dispose of the prototypes," Ansem said sternly, cutting the rocker faery off. Myde turned to look at the three fey behind him, who were fixated on the unconscious figures with the scientists. "You mean these guys? But they remember stuff; they could use your help in—"

"They are nothing but failed experiments. Dispose of them, Myde," Ansem reasserted.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Dispose…Dispose…How were they supposed to react to that?

"_Sora, dispose of that trash immediately!"_

"_But Mom…"_

"_Just do it already!"_

"_Riku, could you dispose of the excess food?"_

"_Of course."_

Dispose…Dispose…

"But, Mister Ansem, sir—"

"Just do it already!"

"_So we are trash after all,_" the little blonde faery thought. It hurt a little to hear someone say that. Was that supposed to happen? What about the unconscious teens in front of her, with the scientists? Were they trash too?

While she was lost in her musings, the faery, named Myde, was reluctantly gesturing for the three to follow him. The blue-haired one didn't seem to respond, resulting in Myde gently pulling her out of the memory pod and leading her out the door. The blonde faery and the silver-haired male followed in silence.

It seems like they were just trash after all.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Okay, follow me! I'm taking you somewhere safe," Myde hissed to them.

"The trash?" the silver-haired one asked curiously.

"No! Why would you think that?" Myde cried, flabbergasted by that suggestion. "To my band's apartment, of course. You'll be fine there; they're nice guys, really."

He led them down the stairs and past the lobby, avoiding Arlene's hateful gaze as they went. "What do you think you're doing, giving punks tours of the facility? This isn't some museum."

"No, of course not!" Myde replied hastily. "I'm just disposing of them—Mister Ansem's orders." Finally, the exit was only a couple steps away; he could do this!

"Be right back, Arlene!" he called happily, ushering the fey out the door. Bringing up the rear, Myde directed them to the left and slammed the door shut.

"Whew, I thought Arlene was gonna fry me again!" Myde panted while wiping invisible sweat from his brow.

"Fry?" the blonde inquired.

"She's a storm nymph, or something like that," Myde explained. "And for some reason, she doesn't like me at all."

They traveled through Radiant Garden Town Square in silence. The town itself was very beautiful, with its eloquently trimmed, lush hedges surrounding the clean brick paths and marble fences. A myriad of flowers lined the bottoms of said hedges and filled the yards of quint little businesses. The buildings themselves were mainly colonial-styled, half-brick buildings that were organized by sizes. Humans appeared to be the main inhabitants, wandering the streets with their lovers and children and going about their daily business. There were a few magical creatures here and there, although it was mainly faeries and elves doing menial work such as gardening.

"This town has the biggest science center of any city or world, so magical creatures can't really do much except minimum wage jobs," Myde explained. "We're kinda a minority here, you could say."

"That's kind of sad," the blonde faery said sympathetically, watching a group of tiny faeries preening the flowers.

"It's not really that bad; we get to do a lot of entertaining!" Myde said happily. "Like my band, for example."

"One of the memories I have is of a faery reserve," the blonde said thoughtfully. "They lived on a reserve and heavily influenced the nearby humans. They made up most of the islands' population, actually. Speaking of which, three of the fey that those people had were the ones from my memories."

"Wha!" Myde exclaimed.

"Yeah, I recognized the other me," the silver-haired teen said. "He seemed older though. I also recognized the red-haired one, but I only remember glimpses of her…"

Before they knew it, they were standing at the foot of a tiny apartment on the far side of town. It was not quite as lush and clean as the town square, with its gray concrete sidewalks and faded cobblestone streets. The apartment building itself was built from dark oak with areas of gray bricks. There were four levels, each one having five small windows. Myde opened the green door and led them up a flight of wooden stairs with peeling white paint. At about the third floor, they left the flight of stairs and turned left down a small corridor until he reached a door labeled "323."

"Here we are!" Myde said cheerfully. He pulled a key out of his pocket and fumbled around with it in the lock, until the door finally swung open.

" 'Ey, Myde!" a voice called from somewhere in the room. "Whatcha doin' back so soon? Didja get fired again?"

"I thought you got a job, Lea!" Myde called back.

"I work the night shift at the coal plant. Got it memorized?"

At that moment, a tall and slender male appeared from around the corner. His skin appeared to be glowing, as though a fire was nearby and illuminating upon him. Fiery, red hair waved wildly behind him, sometimes revealing a streak of red or yellow within. His shockingly jade eyes held little golden sparks that only increased the mischievous look in them.

"Who are your little friends, Myde?" Lea questioned, staring at the three young newcomers.

"Well, they don't really have names," Myde admitted. "Just call them newbies for now. Newbies, this is Lea. He's our resident Fire Spirit!"

"Got it memorized?" Lea said with a smirk, tapping his forehead with flaming fingers.

"Anyway, I'll explain everything later; I have to go back to work. Toodles, and say hi to Isa and Ienzo for me!" On that note, Myde darted out the door and back to the lab, leaving the three young fey with the Fire Spirit.

"So, you kids don't have names?" Lea asked the trio, who shook their heads uncertainly. "What, didja lose your memories in an accident or something?"

"No, we have memories," the blonde explained. "Well, two of us do, at least. They aren't ours, though. We just woke up in the science lab with them, so we're not really sure what happened."

"Those scientists are always up to strange stuff," Lea admitted. "One of them paid me to sit in a box while they ran all sorts of fancy tests or whatever. It was kinda creepy, but the pay was good."

"We didn't get paid," the silver-haired elf pointed out.

"Well, that's cheap," Lea remarked. "Anyway, we need to come up with names for you guys. How about Blondie, Zombie, and Nickel?"

"Um, well…" the blonde faery said uncertainly.

"What on earth are you talking about, Lea?" came a voice from the kitchen. A young teen no older than the newcomers appeared in the doorway. He was a little on the short side with pointed ears and various shades of steel-gray hair that fell over one side ofhis face,nearly concealing his eye entirely. Drops of rain appeared to fall from said hair and in his irises.

"Ienzo emerges!" Lea said with mock surprise. "Meet our newest residents that Myde dropped on our doorstep. We have to figure out names for them."

"What, are they your pets?" Ienzo retorted.

Lea chose to ignore his sarcastic comment, as an idea suddenly sprung into his mind. "Hey, you're creative, right? Why don't you come up with names for them?"

"Why can't you do it?" Ienzo said in a bored tone.

"I did, but they didn't really like my suggestions that much."

"What did you propose?"

"Blondie, Zombie and Nickel."

At this, Ienzo made a face. "I can see why." He turned to the three newcomers and scanned them over. "Well, tell me about yourselves. Make it quick, I'm a bit busy at the moment."


	15. Chapter 15: Discoveries

**A/N: Another chapter for y'all!**

**I cheated and watched the gameplay and cutscenes of KH: 3DS online. I won't give away any spoilers, but the ending did send me screaming and crying into my pillow. I think I got a little too worked up about it...**

**Once again, Thank you to my awesome beta-reader: Mystics Apprentice!**

**Disclaimer: Disclaim ownership of ALL the Disney and Kingdom Hearts things!**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Tidus, get your lazy butt out of bed! How can you have fun all day if you've slept it all away?"

The young autumn faery groaned at the sound of Vanille's voice. Did she have to wake him up this early? He groggily rolled over and stared at his alarm clock. 12:45 P.M. glared back in angry red numbers.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't _that_ early. Still, Tidus wished that he'd be allowed to wake up naturally for once. After several minutes of staring at the ceiling, he finally mustered up the courage to pull himself out of bed and wandered over to the kitchen.

About halfway down the hall, something in a family portrait caught his eye; there appeared to be another figure besides Vanille, Hope, and himself inside of it. Since when had there been another person in the family portrait? Tidus moved towards the painting to get a closer look. The figure appeared to be a boy around the age of ten, with small translucent wings and chestnut-colored hair that was strewn wildly all over the top of his head. The said figure's eyes were a shocking shade of blue with clouds that danced around playfully within them.

Tidus's brain told him that he had never seen this faery before, but there was still something familiar about him that Tidus just couldn't put his finger on. He'd have to do a little research on this strange predicament, but how?

"Mom, come over here!" Tidus yelled.

Problem solved. Shortly thereafter, the perky pink faery bounced into the hallway.

"What is it?" Vanille asked him as she approached.

"Who is this in the picture?" Tidus asked, gesturing to the brunette in the family photo. Vanille stared at the picture for a moment.

"Oh, there's someone else in the portrait! He's a cute little kid; I wonder who he is," Vanille said thoughtfully.

Tidus slapped his forehead. "That's what I'm asking you. I figured that you'd know if you had another kid at some point, but I forgot about your sucky memory."

"Excuse me, you don't know him either!" Vanille retorted. "If it is someone we've forgotten, then your memory is just as bad as mine."

"I wasn't the one who forgot a meeting with the freakin' mayor."

"Hey, that was a misunderstanding!"

While Tidus and Vanille were bickering like a pair of siblings, the front door swung open.

"Hello, I'm back for my lunch break!" Hope called from the doorway, setting his large work bag down on the ground. "I gotta fuel up for the next long shift."

"Dad, you're back just in time!" Tidus exclaimed. He hovered over to the guard faery, family portrait in hand. "Do you know who this is?"

Hope frowned. The brunette seemed vaguely familiar, as if from a distant memory. He rubbed his temples, attempting to delve further into the back of his mind. A young brunette, a secretive phone call…

"I'm not sure," Hope finally admitted. "I'll have to think about it."

Meanwhile, down in the ocean, a raven-haired mermaid was doing the exact same thing in her own clamshell house. Melody had been examining a photograph on a side table taken about a year ago, back when she had visited the shore with her mother to see her dad. In it, her father, Eric, was perched on a rock with her human self in his arms. Her mother, Ariel, rested on the side of the rock, her jade fishtail barely visible in the clear waters. On her back was a twelve-year-old girl with short, dark auburn hair, a color somewhere between Eric's inky-black and Ariel's bright-red tresses. She too had a mermaid tail submerged in the water, rosy-pink in color. If she didn't know any better, Melody would have believed that the young girl was…

"Mom!" she shouted. "Come over here!"

The redheaded mermaid swam over, her gray-blue eyes filled with curiosity. "Yes, Melody? What is it?"

"Look at this picture; there's someone else in it," Melody said urgently. Ariel glanced over the picture, and then frowned.

"Who's that?" she asked her daughter.

"Beats me, that's why I asked you," Melody retorted. "She looks like she could be my sister or something, but I don't recall ever having one."

"I don't either, but…" Ariel's voice trailed off, before adding, "Let's show it you your grandfather. He'll know something, I'm sure of it."

While it appeared that Sora and Kairi had been completely forgotten, Riku and the Calling Ceremony had been anything but. Whispered rumors passed through both the young and elderly crowds, but none of them had any backbone. Tifa was still under the care of the healer, for the enchanted dagger that Serah used left a wound that refused to heal properly. Serah herself had virtually disappeared from the public, never attending council meeting or making nighttime appearances. The curious public questioned her sister Lightning, but the pink-haired elf would merely say that Serah had been troubled by that night's event and needed time to think.

The moonlight-colored elf was perched in a large pine tree and staring blankly at the half-moon, deeply submersed in thought. It was her duty to allow the ancestors to possess her during certain nights, and she was normally fine with that. However, none of them had ever displayed such violent tendencies through their host. She had nearly murdered a child, and brutally attacked his mother at that! Despite Lightning insisting that no one but the spirit was at fault, the Moon Elf still felt responsible for not stopping it.

Then, there was the fact that another Moon Elf besides herself was on the loose. Serah rubbed her temples, head aching from pondering this idea. She had no idea what the Fates were up to, but they were definitely planning something. What could they be weaving now?

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Ienzo and Lea finally worked up better names for the three newcomers. The little blonde faery and the indigo-haired girl were both given names relating to the water due to their unique blue eyes: Naminé and Xion respectively (Xion was originally 'Shion,' but Lea insisted that spelling it with an 'X' would be a hundred times cooler). Coming up with a name for the young elf, however, was another story.

"We could just call him Riku," Lea said irritably to Ienzo, who didn't appear to hear him.

"But apparently I'm not Riku," the silverette pointed out. "I saw him in the lab. Plus, he looks a little different."

"How 'bout Clone of Riku?" Lea suggested.

"That sounds too awkward and impersonal," Ienzo said dismissively. "How about Riku Replica?"

"Isn't that basically what I said?" Lea said exasperatedly.

"No, my suggestion has alliteration. It makes it less awkward-sounding."

"A lil'—wha? Jeez Ienzo, you don't have 'ta rub your smartness in everyone's face."

While Lea and Ienzo bickered, the other three watched them in the background.

"_Tidus, where's my sword?"_

"_Beats me, why would I wanna use that stupid thing?"_

"_It's not stupid!"_

"_Melody, I wanted the last kelp cookie!"_

"_Too bad, I already have it."_

"_Meanie-butt!"_

Naminé looked over at the unnamed elf, who returned her gaze upon this.

"I wonder what's wrong with the blue-haired girl," the elf finally said. It was true, for Xion had done absolutely nothing except stare blankly at her surroundings thus far.

"It's just a theory of mine, but I don't think she has any memories," Naminé said uncertainly. "Every time a situation comes up, I suddenly see memories of similar situations and how to react, if that makes sense. Do you know what I mean?"

"Kind of," the elf admitted.

"If she doesn't have the memories, than she can't react," Naminé explained.

"Well, we'll have to make some memories for her then, and some of your own," Lea said, wearing a mischievous grin. Since when had they stopped bickering?

Ienzo cleared his throat. "Anyway, what do you think of the name Repliku?"

The silverette frowned, for he wasn't sure what to make of the name. "Um, sure," he finally said.

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I shall leave you with Lea. I have some reading to do." He whipped around, sending water flying from his drenched locks as he disappeared into the back room.

Lea turned to face the trio. "Let's show you kids around Radiant Garden."

"Radiant Garden?" Repliku asked curiously.

"It's the name of the town. Got it memorized?"

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"…And this over here is the middle-class area," Lea announced, gesturing to a small suburban-like area. Flowers and traditional brick houses covered the landscape similar to that of the area around the laboratory, although on a less extravagant scale. In the middle of the housing and small businesses was a stone town center filled with quaint little kiosks.

"What are those for?" Naminé asked curiously.

"Mainly small business owners tryin' to save some money," Lea replied. "Hey, one guy down there has the best ice cream 'round. Wanna try some?"

"Ice cream?" Repliku repeated blankly.

"Yeah, the frozen sweet stuff. You guys've never heard of it before?"

Repliku shook his head in response. Naminé, on the other hand, looked down at her feet.

"I've heard of it, kind of," she said nervously. It's hard to explain that you've heard of it through another person's memories, after all. "I haven't tried it myself though."

Lea's eyes widened in surprise. "What! You guys been under a rock or somethin'? You guys are gonna haveta try some. Tell you what: I'll treat you a bar of my personal favorite."

He darted off into the stone area, gesturing for the trio to follow. Naminé grabbed Xion's wrist and guided her to the kiosk that Lea and Repliku had arrived at. It was nothing more than a wooden stand with a large cooler attached. "Ice Cream: 50 Munny" was painted neatly on a blue poster in curly white handwriting. Behind the stand, a large anthropomorphic duck with scruffy white facial feathers and a tidy suit jacket observed his customers.

"Why, if it isn't young Mr. Lea!" he said warmly to the fire spirit. "You here for your sea-salt ice cream?"

"Aw, hell yes!" Lea responded enthusiastically. "I'd also like to get three bars for the newbies over here, my treat."

"Ah, who might your new friends be?" the duck asked kindly.

"The blonde's Naminé, the dark-haired one is Xion, and the guy is Repliku. They're new to the area," Lea explained. "Guys, this is Mr. Scrooge. Got it memorized?"

"Ah, why hello! You're in for a treat; sea salt-ice cream is my specialty," Mr. Scrooge said with a wink. He pulled four glistening blue objects out of his cooler and handed them to the fey.

"That'll be 200 Munny, please."

Lea grudgingly pulled the colorful orbs from the pocket of his torn jeans and took the ice cream. He handed one to each of the younger fey before finally tasting his own. Naminé, Repliku, and even Xion watched him eat his before attempting to take a bite of the blue substance.

_Cool. Sharp. Earthy. Salty?_

_Warm. Soft. Melting. Sweet?_

_What was this?_

"Woah, she has emotions!" Lea declared with mock surprise, staring at Xion's shocked expression. After the initial surprise, the said girl hurriedly finished her ice cream and looked over at the stand. Naminé and Repliku soon followed, licking the strange salty-sweetness off their lips.

"Could we get more ice cream?" Repliku asked. "We got a reaction out of Xion with it."

"Only if you buy it. I offered y'all one each, and that's my limit. I'm not _that_ rich," he said lazily, slouching over the stand.

"We don't have any money," Naminé pointed out.

"Well, get a job then."

"If you kids are looking for a job," Mr. Scrooge said suddenly, "I could always use some help back in the kitchen making the ice cream and selling it here. I'd be willing to pay you, if—"

"Sign them up; we could always use some more breadwinners 'round here!" Lea interrupted. "How soon can they start?"

"Well, shouldn't you see if they actually want this—"

"They do, right?" Lea turned to the trio with a glare, causing Naminé and Repliku to nod out of intimidation. Satisfied, the fire spirit looked back to the duck. "Well, there you go."

"Is Naminé even of age to be employed?" Mr. Scrooge added persistently as he looked over the petite blonde faery. "She hasn't even bloomed yet."

"I'm fourteen," Naminé stated automatically. Mr. Scrooge raised an eyebrow, but he merely sighed. "I guess if you aren't being pressured to, I can hire you and put you three to work starting tomorrow."

"Great!" Lea exclaimed. "Thanks again, Mr. Scrooge. See you 'round."

"Goodbye!" replied the duck, waving a white feathered wing. "See you three tomorrow!"

As the four fey walked away to continue exploring the city, Lea slowed his pace to match with Naminé's. "Wait, you're _fourteen_?" he asked disbelievingly. "I thought you were ten or somethin'."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Meanwhile, within a dark room at the research lab, Even was scrutinizing the security tapes of his office. There had to be some other reason for the failure of his project, because he had executed his signature cloning experiment perfectly!

Finally, he found the evidence that he had been looking for. About halfway through the current footage he was observing, he noticed three black shadows following his assistant into the lab.

"_Hm, what in the worlds could those be?" _Even wondered. He hit the zoom button to get a closer look at the creatures, but the footage merely blurred. Sighing, he zoomed back out and watched as they examined the room, disappearing whenever Myde approached them. As the faery assistant walked away from the evidence, however, the creatures jumped out of hiding and began decimating it.

"What on earth?" Even exclaimed. Suddenly, the creatures turned towards Myde and began cornering the frantic faery. In an act of desperation, Myde grabbed one of Even's own acid bottles and hurled it at the creatures, dissolving the shadowy beings on impact. Then, the assistant began hurriedly sweeping up the contents and placing them into new containers.

"I must show this to Master Ansem!" Even said to himself. "This is definitely a new turn of events."

"Show me what?" a booming voice inquired. The amber-eyed head scientist entered the surveillance room, wearing a curious expression upon his face.

"Footage of my DNA samples being sabotaged," Even said pointedly.

"Sabotaged?" Ansem echoed.

"Sabotaged indeed, sir. Come, have a look yourself." Even rewinded the video several minutes back, and then hit the 'play' button.

Ansem watched the tapes intently, searching for any sign of sabotage. After a few moments of silence, he sighed heavily.

"I see nothing out of the ordinary," he observed.

"Just wait, they should be coming soon." Shortly after Even said this, the shadowy black creatures creeped into the scene. Ansem froze, tensing up at the sight of the beings. His pulse quickened as the beings slinked in and out of view, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. As soon as he saw them violate Even's DNA collection and turn on Myde, Ansem stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

A bewildered Even stared blankly at the door, which was still trembling from being slammed shut. "I wonder what's gotten into him," Even wondered aloud.

Down the hallway, Myde was just returning from smuggling the misfits from the lab. He was pulling a broom out of a cabinet when a panicked Ansem appeared in front of the faery.

"What were they!" Ansem demanded, looming over Myde. "What did they look like!"

"What were what?" replied a frightened Myde, clenching the broom tightly.

"The creatures! The ones that defiled the evidence!" Ansem practically yelled.

"Um, I don't know, sir," Myde replied, shaking. "They were very scary. Big red eyes and lots of teeth."

At this, the scientist seemed to calm down. "Okay...false alarm," he muttered under his breath.

"False alarm?" Myde repeated disbelievingly.

"Yes, false alarm. Go back to work."

"You aren't gonna fire me?"

"No, not today; the incident wasn't entirely your fault. Now, why don't you go check on the guests we brought in earlier today? They probably won't be awakening anytime soon, but it never hurts to check. "

Myde was practically dancing with joy at this. His job was saved! "_Mister Ansem sure was acting weird about it, though,_" Myde thought curiously.

Master Ansem himself was too preoccupied in his own thoughts to consider the young assistant watching him saunter down the hall. That had been a close call, much too close for his own comfort.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**


	16. Chapter 16: The Laboratory

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter! Not much I have to day other than that…**

**Anon Reply -**

**Nin4: Hooray for favorite chapters! Yep, Myde gets to keep his job…he livens the work place up. XD I want some sea-salt ice cream; plain salt tastes gross! Especially when you're expecting sugar…anyway, thanks for the review and the ice cream!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. etc. **

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

On an unknown world, a hooded figure appeared out of thin air. He examined his relatively plain surroundings: simple brick roads and wooden houses, lit by candles and street lamps in the dark of night. The figure walked along the road until he appeared at a humble tavern in what seemed to be the town square. He entered the bar and ordered a drink from the bartender, and then headed for the corner of the room. There, he pulled out a small glass sphere and set it across from him.

"Nice little world, eh?" the figure said in a scratchy voice to the crystal ball. Its only response was to fill with some sort of murky cloud.

"Straight to business, as usual," the figure muttered, chuckling lightly. He peered intently into the murky substance within the ball. "Well, what do you have to show me today?"

Footsteps approached the figure conversing with the sphere.

"Um, sir?" came a deep voice. The figure looked up to see a muscular brunette man with simple black pants, a white T-shirt, and some sort of animal hide belted onto his shoulders. In his hand was a large draft beer, the milky-white bubbles still rising to the top of the dark liquid.

"I believe this is your beverage," he continued uncertainly, eyeing the hooded figure. The customer had been talking to a little glass orb, after all.

The hooded figure thanked the man for his drink and offered him a small tip. As soon as the young man was gone, the cloaked man returned to his crystal ball.

"You know," he said casually to the ball. "That young man reminded me of a particular someone who I wanted to see this evening: him, his acquaintances, and that…scientist." He spat out the last word.

"_As you wish, Master Yen Sid," _the crystal ball responded in his head. Yen Sid blinked; since when could it talk? Perhaps he really was going mad after all. He stared into the murky depths of the magical sphere, where an image of four teens slept in a blank white room, which was most likely some sort of scientific healing house. Suddenly, the image flickered and fizzled out. It was replaced by a setting in some sort of run-down apartment with four fey. Three of them – the youngest ones – had a definite resemblance to the trio Yen Sid himself had been watching: a young blonde no older than ten years old with large, violet-blue eyes, another girl with hair of a midnight-blue, who appeared to be a replica of Kairi with sky-blue eyes, and a young silverette with shocking aquamarine eyes and a slightly heart-shaped face.

The appearance of these three both astonished and intrigued the warlock. Who on earth could they be?

"Crystal, I would like more information on these three," he demanded. The image of the three teens shifted into a scene in the science lab with black creatures destroying Even's collection of materials, and then the same creatures burning to death at the hand of a frightened blonde faery. The said faery swept the violated materials up, which Even proceeded to use to create three humanoid beings.

"Ah, so that was what you were up to, my dear friend," Yen Sid said with a chuckle. "Well, it's good to see that the gremlins I sent after you did their job to the end. It's too bad, though; those little servants were hard to come by."

"_Would you desire more servants?" _the crystal ball asked seductively. At this question, Yen Sid frowned. The crystal ball had now spoken twice to him; why hadn't it spoken in earlier conversations he had with it?

"Never mind that, I just wish to understand these…replicas more," Yen Sid finally responded to the crystal ball. The image on the sphere vanished into thick gray fog, and reappeared as a side-by-side comparison of both trios.

"_They are merely mixtures of the three children you were after for your heart's desire,"_ the crystal ball explained dismissively. _"It is highly unlikely that they have the hearts necessary to wield weapons like the original children. However—" _A strange grin crossed the crystal ball's surface._"– They have given me an interesting idea to help you gain back what you lost."_

A light gleamed in Yen Sid's pale eyes. "I pray you, do tell of this idea," he hissed greedily under his breath.

"_I will, but there is one minor condition: all you have to do is accept a gift of mine," _the glass ball said simply.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Ugh, what had just happened?

Sora's hand flew to his head, which felt as if he had been banging it into a brick. Who knew; maybe he had been. After all, the last thing he remembered was seeing an older, human version of himself flying around in a Gummi Ship.

"_It must've been a dream of some sort,_" he decided. Slowly, his eyes flew open and saw what he had least expected: a plain white room filled to the brim with medical equipment and about a dozen simple hospital beds. On his left, Sora noticed Riku staring blankly at the wall. Straight across from Riku was Kairi, who still appeared to be out cold. To the right of Sora was a familiar light faery…

…Olette?

Sora rubbed his head. "Where are we?" he asked Riku, breaking the elf out of his daze.

"Oh, you're awake," he responded simply. "I'm not sure where we are; I just awoke myself, to be honest."

The two sat in silence for a moment, still in a haze from being unconscious for so long. Suddenly, they heard a boisterous voice shout, "Happy Birthday, Riku!"

Turning to the entrance, they saw a small faery flutter in and quickly grow to a human size. Before them stood a tall, young man with a sandy-blonde mullet and music note-like wings. He was dressed in a white lab coat that had been sloppily thrown over black leather pants. In his hands was a simple clipboard with a ridiculous amount of papers attached to it; in fact, several pieces had drifted to the ground in his outburst.

"How do you know my name?" Riku finally asked.

The blonde gestured to his clipboard. "It says so right here, along with tons of stuff about you. That's how I know it's your birthday!" he explained enthusiastically. "Good thing you woke up earlier than Mister Ansem expected, or else you would've slept right through it."

"Oh, do you have papers about me, too?" Sora asked excitedly, his exhaustion long forgotten.

"Yep! You're Sora, I think," he said. "Unless you're Kairi, but I don't think that's your name. Oh hey, look! Your birthday's only a couple days from now; what a coincidence!"

On the other side of the room, the auburn-haired fey stirred in her bed. Groaning, she pulled herself up from the pillows and rubbed her eyes.

"What's all the commotion about?" Kairi asked groggily as her eyes scanned the room. They finally rested on the rocker faery that she had never seen before. "Um, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry; did I really forget to tell you my name?" he asked, scratching his head. "Well, I'm Myde. Are you Kairi?"

She nodded in response. "Yep, that's me."

"Well, it looks like most of you are awake now!" Myde said. "Now, if only that other girl would wake up. For some reason, Mister Even didn't have any papers on her at all."

"Even?" Sora echoed, his tone holding confusion. "What does he have to do with anything?"

On the other hand, Riku merely nodded. "That would explain how you got all those papers about us," he said thoughtfully. "Is this where he works?"

"Uh-huh," Myde replied. "He and Mister Ansem got you four out of some messy situation, but he won't tell me about it."

Suddenly, the memories hit them like a pack of werewolves. Yen Sid, something about magical blades and being connected to them, an evil spell, a ring in the ground leading to a giant vortex, swirling and swirling 'round and 'round…

"I see that they've finally awoken," boomed a deep voice. A tall man with platinum-blonde hair and a matching beard stood in the entrance, his piercing amber eyes examining the young teenagers. Beside him, Even appeared with a flustered expression.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi stared blankly at the man for a moment.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier," he said apologetically. "I am Ansem the Wise, the head of this research lab. I have heard much about you from Even here, although I must say, seeing you in the flesh is much more…interesting."

"Uh, thanks?" Kairi replied awkwardly.

"If you are well enough," Ansem continued, "I would like to show you around the lab and hopefully get to understand you a little better."

Understand? Well, that was a strange way of putting it.

"Hey, why are you science guys all over us too?" Sora asked bluntly. "Yen Sid told us why he wanted us, but I thought you science people didn't mess around with magic."

A smile formed on Ansem's lips. "My, what a clever faery you are," he said, which caused Riku to chuckle. As all eyes went to him, Riku began to cough in attempt cover it up.

"I can think sometimes," Sora responded with a pout.

Ansem cleared his throat. "Anyway, I wish to show you around the lab. I shall answer your questions on the way, if you so desire."

The trio nodded and pulled themselves out of the beds. As they reached the doorway, Kairi turned to the stirring Olette. "You're just going to leave her here?" she asked, her tone holding that of great concern.

To this, Even responded rudely, "Why yes, this doesn't concern her. Myde can watch her while we're out."

"Oh, come now, Even; don't be so grumpy in front of our guests," Ansem chided, before kindly adding to the taken-aback fey: "The young girl aided us in our rescue of you three, and so she deserves to rest some." This statement caused Even to grumble something about the bathroom and storm out of the room.

If Ansem could look any more exasperated than he was just then, heads would've probably began rolling.

"I apologize for his rude behavior," he said apologetically to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "A major experiment of his went wrong earlier this week. Now, how about we start in the dining hall first? I hear it's your sixteenth birthday, Riku."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

A few short minutes later, they were eating away at the food in the cafeteria. Rather, Riku was eating. Kairi was picking at the foreign land foods that she wasn't accustomed to, and Sora was practically absorbing the meal. Ansem, on the other hand, merely sipped politely at a glass of iced tea. Finally, the wise scientist spoke.

"Well, now that we've all gotten something to eat, why don't we start by answering young Master Sora's question first," he said seriously. "As you know, the wizard wants you for some sort of magic you possess that was spoken of in a certain ancient prophecy. At least, that's what they say."

"You don't believe that?" Riku surmised.

"I don't believe in fortunes; I believe in facts," Ansem replied simply. "However, when Even went to visit my dear old rival and saw that you three indeed existed, I realized how you could greatly impact the scientific community."

"Wait, how would magic help science any?" Kairi asked confusedly. "I thought they were opposites."

To this, Ansem merely chuckled. "My dear, it is not in the magic that you are rumored to bring; it's in your genetics!"

He received a blank stare from his audience. Finally, Sora piped up. "Genewha?"

"Your genetics!" Ansem repeated passionately. "Sora, your genetics are frozen in that of a child. Your genes could hold the secret to eternal health and youth! Kairi, you are the only successful halfling to be produced by two separate species. Ri—"

"But what about my sister?" Kairi interrupted.

Ansem sighed. "My dear, don't you recall that she was born a human? You were born the perfect hybrid: a human torso as opposed to that of a fey, and the lower half of a fish. As I was saying, you could open a new world of love between two conflicting species and create an entirely new subspecies.

"Riku, you are one of two Moon Elves in the world. We have never been able to examine the genetic codes of this particular elf due to their rarity and disdain for humans. You could help us unlock the key to why Moon Elves are as rare as they are, as well as what separates them from other elves."

Silence fell upon the room. Eventually it was Sora that broke it, proceeding to lean into Riku and hissing, "Did you get any of that?"

"Not a lot," Riku admitted under his breath.

Apparently, Kairi didn't understand much of what Ansem had said, either. "Well, that makes—uh…sense, I guess," she said awkwardly, "but what's a genetic?"

Ansem rubbed the temples of his forehead to hide his frustration. He had forgotten that they knew very little – if anything – about science. How could he explain it so that they would understand? Finally, he gave up.

"It's a fancy scientific term that's hard to explain," he told the teens shortly. "Now, do you have any other questions?"

"Can we go explore outside? I don't like being inside too long," Sora complained. Although neither one said anything, Riku and Kairi agreed. This lab just wasn't the place for an outdoor fey, especially with all the bleak whiteness and the sharp, strange scents lingering everywhere.

Well, there goes anything getting done today. "If that is what you want," Ansem replied reluctantly. "I shall send Myde to give you a tour of the area; I would like to speak with Miss Olette anyway."

"Great, thanks!"

"Thank you!"

"Thanks a lot, mister!"

As the trio eagerly thanked Ansem and leapt out of their seats, the scientist spoke again, "I would like to begin genetic testing tomorrow though, if that's alright with you three. You are living here for the time being, after all."

"That's fine," Riku said quickly. With that, they were off. Ansem shook his head as he watched them run off giggling into the lobby, where Arlene began yelling at the 'little brats.' As thrilled as he was to have finally gotten these extremely rare genetic anomalies, he had yet to understand the mind of children.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Listen, you little brats: this isn't a playground, this is a science lab. More importantly, it's my munny source. Quit running around here, or so help me I'll fry your sorry butts out of this facility!" Arlene roared at the three fey, who were no longer giggling and instead were darting out the door. Kairi nervously eyed her feet, trying to avoid Arlene's electrifying gaze. At the same time, Riku and Sora were cautiously backing away from the secretary as electricity began to form around her body and surge up her hair-antennae.

"Hey, be nice to these kids; it's Riku's birthday!"

Myde had finally come to rescue them from the snarling storm nymph. It was just in time, too; she looked as if she were about ready to burn them to ashes. The little rocker faery darted into the main lobby and grew to full size right beside Riku, causing music note faery dust to cover his silver hair.

"Besides," Myde said. "Mister Ansem wants them to live here for a while. I'm supposed to give them a little tour of the town."

Arlene made a disgusted face. "What, are we a street-rat shelter now or something?" she muttered under breath. Myde didn't appear to hear her, for he didn't respond. Instead, he gestured for Sora, Riku, and Kairi to follow him out the exit.

"C'mon, guys," he encouraged, holding the door open for them. "Arlene's just being a meanie, as usual." The three of them darted out of the door as fast as they could, stopping only when they had arrived outside and out of Arlene's piercing gaze.

"Whew, she's scary!" Sora commented as Myde closed the door behind them.

"You bet!" Myde replied earnestly. "She fried me on my first day here."

"_Fried_ you?" Kairi gasped.

Myde nodded his head vigorously. "Yep, fried me. It hurt a lot, let me tell you," he replied. "Anyway, on to happier topics! Let's show you around the area." The trio agreed to this suggestion, and therefore began following him as he led them up the street. There were flowers and trees everywhere, lining every cobblestone street and beautifully arranged in every yard.

"You'd think they have enough flowers here," Sora said, eyeing a patch of indigo roses.

"Well, it is called Radiant Garden," Riku pointed out. "It would make sense that they would have a variety of plants here."

Suddenly, Myde stopped in his tracks. "Oh, hey, it's your sixteenth birthday, right Riku?"

Riku shifted uncomfortably. "I guess it is," he replied nervously.

In response, Myde clapped his hands together and said, "Let's go to the shopping center then! They have some tasty goodies there like sea-salt ice cream." He licked his lips excitedly. "Thank goodness it's so cheap, or else I'd be broke from buyin' that stuff all the time. It's the best stuff in the world!" Turning right, Myde eagerly led them down another flowery path and into a large circular clearing.

"Hey, can I try some too?" Sora piped up as they approached the shopping center. "My birthday's just a couple days from now; it couldn't hurt to celebrate early."

"Sora? I think that's kinda rude to ask," Kairi pointed out. However, she secretly wanted to try some too after hearing Myde talk about it, only she didn't have the excuse of an approaching birthday. If only it had been a month later…

Myde giggled at Sora's statement, breaking Kairi out of her thoughts. "Don't worry little guy, I'll make sure that there's plenty to go around!" he assured the faery.

This statement didn't go over well with Sora.

"Excuse me!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I'm going to be fifteen in two days." He crossed his arms and glared pointedly at Myde, who merely returned this with a blank stare. Sora's irritated pose fell almost as quickly as it came, shifting to confusion at the rocker faery's reaction (or lack thereof).

"What is it?" Sora asked curiously.

A flicker of realization crossed through Myde's music note-filled eyes. "Aha, that makes perfect sense now!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Sora grinned. "I knew someone would finally get it," he said smugly. He returned to his signature walking pose, slouched over with his fingers laced behind his head. In contrast, Riku and Kairi were left even more bewildered than ever.

"I don't follow your logic," Riku finally spoke for him and the redhead. "It makes no sense." Kairi nodded alongside him.

Suddenly, Myde's mood went from excited to uncomfortable. "Oh, well, it's nothing," he said hastily. "It's just a friend–"

He stopped dead in his tracks, staring in shock at the kiosk that they had arrived at. Rather, at the people behind it. A slender man with wild hair and what appeared to be a fire's reflection flickering across his skin was dropping off three young fey at the wooden stand. An elderly, anthropomorphic duck was handing them aprons and explaining something to them, although Myde and his gang were too far away to understand him. Finally, the fire spirit and his guests noticed Myde and his party.

Time seemed to freeze. All eyes stared at each other; they met with familiar eyes, with unfamiliar eyes, and with their own eyes.

Finally, the redhead spoke. "Nuthin' to do here!" he said, chuckling nervously. "See ya 'round, Myde!"

_BOOM._

Before Myde could say anything, the one called Lea burst into flames.

Silence ensued. Then:

"You can't be serious, Lea!" Myde cried hysterically. "What in Radiant Garden were you thinking? Now my job—" He abruptly cut off his troubled mutterings and turned to the six confused kids. "Eh, well, you kiddies stay put!" he said with forced enthusiasm. Quickly, he shrunk to his faery size and darted down the street.


	17. Chapter 17: Revelations and Ice Cream

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for the long wait! It shouldn't happen again for a while...**

**Disclaimer: What if I told you that I didn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, OR Square Enix? Well, it's true.**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

There was only one place for Lea to have darted off to: the apartment.

Myde flew as fast as his wings could carry him, narrowly dodging several trees and prickly rose bushes along the way. A few angry fey and humans cursed the rocker faery for nearly slamming into them, but Myde did not allow that to slow him down. He needed to find Lea _now; _nothing was going to stop him.

SLAM.

Myde had been so preoccupied by his thoughts of "OHMYGOSHLEAOHMYGOSHYOU DUMMYMYJOBOHMYGOSH" that he hadn't even noticed the familiar brick apartment until he had knocked himself into the door – literally. He tumbled to the ground, where he lay for a few stunned seconds. During this time, the door slowly creaked open to reveal the fiery spirit that Myde had been looking for. At the sight of the disoriented faery on the ground, Lea winced dramatically.

"Ouch, you okay?" he asked Myde. The faery groaned something unintelligible before bursting into human size and attempting to stand up.

Note the key word:_ attempting_.

In the end, Myde stumbled into the wall beside Lea, who was struggling to contain his laughter.

"It hurts to see you suffer, bruh,"the redhead commented, an ill-concealed grin on his face as he watched his struggling friend.

"Heey!" Myde said accusingly, rubbing a large gash on his forehead. "It's your fault this happened!"

At this statement, Lea's amused expression faded. The fire spirit shifted uncomfortably as his ember green eyes studied the stairwell behind him.

"Yeah, uh, about that," he said nervously. "I –"

Before the redhead could finish his sentence, Myde interrupted him. "I said that I kinda smuggled them out and that we had to hide them from Mister Ansem!" he cried. "You got them a job at his favorite ice cream place. Now what am I gonna do?"

Lea scratched his head thoughtfully. Since he couldn't come up with any solutions, he merely responded, "You could put a bandage on your head; you're getting blood all over the hallway."

Both of them looked at the floor under Myde's feet. Sure enough, a lovely puddle of golden blood had accumulated that Myde hadn't even noticed. Boy, the landlord wasn't going to be too happy. He would probably make them pay for cleaning it up, which would require a job to get the money. Of course this _would_ happen to Myde.

"Well, I think that I could pay for the cleanup!" Lea said halfheartedly to the faery.

"Yeah," Myde replied miserably. "Excuse me while I take a nap; maybe this is all just a dream! Yep, it's just a dream, hehe." On that note, he fainted. Lea stared at the unconscious faery for a moment, slightly shocked by what had just occurred.

"Wow, the wall got 'em good," he finally commented to himself.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Meanwhile at the ice cream booth, two sets of confused trios were left in the dust by their (relatively) adult guides. The three young ones behind the ice cream stand – Naminé, Xion, and Repliku – were aware that they were standing before their originals, whose blood ran through their veins and memories through their minds (excluding Xion). The other trio was oblivious, of course. All they knew at that moment was that Myde had flipped out at the sight of three ice cream booth workers who looked suspiciously like themselves.

It was an awkward situation, to say the least; even Scrooge McDuck didn't know what to say to break the ice.

Finally Sora decided to crush the awkward silence. "Well, there goes our sea-salt ice cream," he grumbled. Turning to the other trio, he grinned and extended his hand to them. "Anyway, I'm Sora Dia Oerba."

"_I know_," Naminé nearly said_. "I know you, I know Kairi, I know Riku." _It was right on the tip of her tongue, but for some reason it felt wrong to say. She merely stared at the brunet – the only faery around there, finally, that was her height – and racked through her memories to think of something to say.

"_Hello there! I'm Sora."_

"'_Sup? I'm Hayner; what's your name?"_

"_My name is –"_

"Naminé."

Before she knew it, the blonde found herself saying her own name. Repliku raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.

"Well, nice to meet you, Naminé!" Sora said with a genuine smile. "Who're your friends?"

Naminé looked back to Xion and Repliku. The silverette stared down into the ice cream bin that he was mindlessly unpacking in an attempt to avoid Riku's questioning gaze, while Xion snagged one of the delicious frozen treats and began to eat it. It was quite obvious that they weren't going to respond, especially due to Repliku's question-arousing name.

"They're, uh, my siblings; they can't talk," she explained hurriedly.

"Oh no!" Kairi gasped, speaking for the first time. "What happened?"

Naminé frowned. How could someone not talk? Now was the time to look through her memories for an answer.

"_Riku?"_

_A silent pause._

"_Hey, why you not talkin' today, man? A cat got your tongue?"_

"A, um, cat took their tongues," Naminé said awkwardly. Riku raised an eyebrow at this statement, skepticism written all over his face. He, however, was the only one who didn't buy it; his trusting and gullible friends beside him, Sora and Kairi, bought it hook and sink. The mermaid's hands went straight over her mouth as she inhaled sharply, while Sora's eyes grew wider than an owl's.

"That's horrible!" Kairi cried. "I never knew land animals could be so vicious!"

"I didn't know that was even possible; I thought it was just an expression!" Sora added seriously.

Off to the side, Scrooge McDuck chuckled to himself. These kids were amusing to watch, even though it was obvious that _something_ strange was going on. Just then, the duck noticed a line forming behind the guests who had been left at his booth.

"Well, I'm sorry to break up the meeting, but I'm afraid we have to get started on selling this ice cream!" he said kindly to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "So, unless you intend on buying something, I'm going to have to ask you to be on your way."

"I'm sorry, sir," Riku said apologetically. "We'll be going now." With that, he gestured for Sora and Kairi to follow him.

"Bye!" Sora called, waving to the other trio. "Hopefully we'll see you soon!" Naminé waved politely in response, although she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest now that they were leaving. Beside her, Repliku let out a loud exhale.

"That was close," he muttered to Naminé. "I had no idea what I was going to say to Riku if he started asking questions."

"Tell me about it," Naminé replied, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow.

Scrooge McDuck, oblivious of their conversation, watched the three teens leave with an amused expression. "It's funny; they resemble you three a lot," he commented. "I bet you'd be good friends."

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"They seemed really nice," Sora commented as they walked down the road. "Maybe staying here for a couple days won't be too bad at all if we can meet some new people."

Kairi nodded. "At first, I was kind of freaked out by how much they looked like us," she admitted. "But that tongue thing – ugh, it's horrible to even think about!"

"Tell me about it!" Sora said seriously. Riku rolled his eyes at their conversation. Did they still honestly believe that poor excuse? Perhaps now would be the time to burst their bubble.

Turning to face his friends, he said, "That was obviously a lie. The girl with the indigo hair was licking one of those frozen desserts, remember?"

Sora stared at Riku in disbelief. "You're such a skeptic, Riku!" he told his friend. "Besides, why would I pay attention to how someone was eating their ice cream?"

"Just because it's an unlikely story doesn't make it a lie," Kairi pointed out.

The elf mentally face-palmed himself. That approach obviously didn't go anywhere. He sighed, trying to think of another way to go about explaining the fishiness of the situation. Finally, he thought of something.

"Well, if something isn't up, then why did that silver-haired one look suspiciously like a younger version of myself?" he challenged. "The same goes for the other two: the blue-haired girl resembled Kairi, while the faery appeared to be you and Kairi's love child."

Despite the awkward comparison at the end, Kairi had to admit that Riku's argument had some truth to it. "I wondered about that myself," Kairi admitted reluctantly.

"If they are hiding something about that, I'm sure it's nothing that big," Sora said casually. "Besides, they were probably only hiding something because they had to."

"I wasn't accusing them of having ill-intentions," Riku explained. "I was just—"

"Hey, guys?" Kairi said suddenly, looking around at their surroundings. "Where exactly are we going?"

She was right: they had been wandering around aimlessly since they left the ice cream stand. Now they were in the middle of a cobblestone path surrounded by the same flowers that lined every street. The only buildings were unfamiliar colonial-style houses and a small gazebo not too far to the right.

They were hopelessly lost in a place that seemed just like every other street in town.

"Well, this doesn't look too good for us," Riku commented. The other two could only nod in response.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

A hooded Yen Sid stood beside a pile of sandy-colored rubble. It was hard to believe that this pile used to be his century-old home that presided over a little kingdom that he ran. He chuckled darkly at the irony of the situation: the very citizens that came to his town seeking peace had left it in chaos and shambles.

"_It's all due to those silly little brats_," a little voice said spitefully. Yen Sid looked down to the crystal ball in his hands, its clear form filled with a murky fog.

"Is it really their fault?" Yen Sid said uncertainly. "Perhaps it is my own fault; I could have interpreted the prophecy wrong, I could have gone about the process the wrong way, I –"

The crystal ball hissed at him. _"What happened to you, warlock?"_ it asked incredulously. _"You used to be confident in your abilities and a cunning man. Now, all you seem to do is mope and question your capabilities. You'll never be able to gain what you wish with such low self-esteem."_

His crystal ball had a point. "I suppose you're correct," he said to it, "although I haven't the faintest notion on what to do about it."

"_That is why I brought you here, my Master,"_ it assured Yen Sid. _"You can easily regain confidence by rising to the top once more. To do that, you just need some…servants."_ The crystal ball uttered the last word slowly, as if it had been deciding whether that was the most fitting word or not.

This statement peaked Yen Sid's curiosity. How on earth could he do that by returning to his decimated kingdom? The only thing that came to his mind were his brooms, but they couldn't do much other than menial tasks. Plus, it would take more effort than it was worth to revive them all. He could animate the forest, but that would be both illogical and impractical.

His musings were answered by his crystal ball, of course. _"Have no worries, Master,"_ the crystal ball assured Yen Sid. "I have the minions; all you need to do is accept them."

"But why did we have to come here for me to accept them?" the old warlock pointed out.

"_In time, Master. Let's take this one step at a time."_ With that, the substance inside the crystal changed from a murky color to a more ominous violet. Somewhere inside Yen Sid's long-forgotten conscience, the old warlock felt a hint of anxiety. Since when had he last felt that? His crystal ball was right; he was getting soft for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was because his ego had been knocked down several notches after being the supreme magical being for centuries, but that thought didn't actually occur to him. Either way, he wasn't sure if he should accept this 'gift.'

"I'm not so sure about this," Yen Sid finally said. "Perhaps I should work on building myself back up to my power on my own."

A flash of red appeared in the crystal ball, but quickly disappeared. _"Fine then, have it your way. I'll sit back and watch you struggle for another few centuries to get back Star Seeker."_

The old warlock froze at the sound of his former Keyblade's name. Painful memories that he'd stifled had arisen back into his brain: Star Seeker's beautiful golden stars that danced around the blade, its crescent moon with a star resting inside along with its lovely wing-like appendages around the hilt. Most of all, however, he missed the warm pulsations it emitted while resting in his hands. He and the blade had been one long ago, and now it was gone. All Yen Sid had left was emptiness in his heart and the memories in his mind.

Oh, how he desperately wanted to have Star Seeker again!

"Fine," Yen Sid said through clenched teeth. "I accept your gift."

The clouds inside the crystal ball seemed to form a smile. "I knew you'd come around eventually." With that said, the purple substance returned within the orb and began slowly leaking out.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Well, we're…hopelessly lost," Riku stated, panting heavily while leaning against a lamppost. Sora jogged up to him and leaned over his knees, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. Behind him was Kairi, who doubled over and fell to her knees. They had been running around Radiant Garden for the last hour in an attempt to find familiar landmarks, and using her legs was not exactly her strong point yet. If that wasn't enough, all of that running, jumping and looking around had been completely fruitless. They had even broken down and asked for directions back to Ansem's lab, but no one had been helpful at all – one person even told them that they should "leave Doctor Ansem alone" and "fly off to their faery hollows or whatever."

"How are we…supposed to…get back?" Sora gasped as he plopped down on the cobble street. These roads were really starting to annoy him; if they weren't so identical, they might have some clue of where they were right now.

"Beats…me," Kairi said between breaths. She was now lying flat on her back, staring at the sky. "Its late afternoon now…maybe he'll…send someone to find us…"

Riku followed suit of his other friends and slunk to the ground. "One can…only hope," he muttered. Together they sat on the ground and stared at the sky. It was cloudy for the most part, although the sun peaked out from a puffy white cloud in the West. Kairi was right; it had to be at least three o'clock by then. Had it really been only a couple hours since they had awoken there?

"Well, it looks like you didn't get your birthday ice cream," Sora said teasingly to Riku after a few minutes of silence.

The elf shrugged in response. "It was just ice cream. Besides, you didn't get any either."

"It's not my birthday for another couple of days," Sora said. "I still have a chance at getting some ice cream then."

"But when would I get ice cream?" Kairi said worriedly (although a smile on her face told them that she was joking).

"Don't worry your pretty little head off yet, girlie."

The three teens' heads shot up at the sound of a man's voice and began looking around. Down the street they saw a vaguely familiar figure with fiery-red hair, ember-green eyes, and skin with light rippling across the surface like a flame. In his hand was a cup with three sticks of cool-blue ice cream inside, still in their plastic wrappers.

"You're the one who dropped off the other three fey at the ice cream booth," Riku said observantly. "Not to mention the one that Myde ran off after."

The redhead rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, he kinda had an accident chasing me that left him pretty bad off," he explained. "When he woke up, he realized that you guys were probably lost. He asked me"—he gestured to himself for emphasis—"to find 'dja and get you back to the lab. He even gave me some munny to get'cha guys these ice creams."

"We're saved!" Sora cried happily, somehow finding the energy to leap with joy. He skipped over to the fire spirit and pulled the ice creams out of the cup, tossing one to Riku and Kairi respectively.

"Ooh!" Kairi squealed happily. "Thank you, Mister…"

"Lea," the man finished for her. "Got it memorized?"

"Okay, Mister Lea. Thank you!" she said delightedly. Both She and Sora opened their ice cream and took a bite of the frozen treat. As soon as they tasted it, their eyes widened with surprise.

"Woah!" Sora exclaimed. "This is awesome! Riku, you have to try it!" The silver-haired elf stared at the ice cream for a moment, and then to his friends. Finally, he pulled the wrapper open and tasted the substance.

_Salty._

The unexpected salty flavor hit Riku like a brick, startling all six of his senses. His eyes flew wide open, his skin prickled with goose bumps, his taste buds went numb.

_Sweet._

Next came the sweetness. It felt more like a warm blanket, comforting his startled senses. Every part of him relaxed as the delightful sweetness of the creamy substance ran down his throat.

It was perhaps the best thing he had ever tried.

Lea, noticing the trio's surprise at the flavor, chuckled at their reactions. "It looks like you guys have never had sea-salt ice cream before either," he said in an amused tone.

"Either?" Riku asked, licking his sea-salt ice cream. "Who else hasn't tried it before?"

Lea's green eyes immediately darted from side to side. "It's a long story," he said hurriedly. "Now, why don't we take you back to Ansem's?"

No one pressed him on the topic further. Instead, the three teens happily agreed to follow Lea, ice cream in hand.

Besides, Riku already had an idea on who Lea had been talking about.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**Remember: Reviews are a writer's motivation! :D**


	18. Chapter 18: Ripples in the Calm

**Epic fail at updating soon. -.- Thankfully, summer break starts tomorrow. Misfits should be on their way more frequently then!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Master Ansem was sitting in his office, stroking his beard in a very serious manner. His pondering time had finally arrived; a time to consider the many scientific wonders that were, are, and will be created and discovered in the future – by him, of course. Soon, he would be adding to that list, thanks to the arrival of the supernatural misfits in his possession. They could very well be the keys to unlocking a whole new realm of science, particularly in the genetics branch.

Ah, yes; the three of them truly were wonderful, weren't they?

The wise scientist arose from his office chair and began to pace the carpeted floors of his workplace. His amber eyes studied the many diagrams and sketches attached to the walls: one regarding the physics of flight and oxygen level control, another displaying the chemical makeup of flowers, and many more of the sorts.

Suddenly, one particular diagram pinned to the wall caught his eye. It didn't appear to be important at a glance, for it was lazily scribbled in pencil on a scrap sheet of paper. It was, in fact, the contents of the paper that alarmed Ansem.

The said man glanced suspiciously from side to side, as if someone may have been watching him in his windowless secret office. Then he tore the paper right off the pin, ripped it to bits, and then began throwing it bit by bit into the trash.

"Ansem, you have guests," came a curt voice from the intercom. Ansem inhaled sharply, startled by the sudden noise. After he had calmed down, he said slowly, "Tell them that I am on my way." He whipped around and started walking in the opposite direction of the trash, the tail of his favorite red scarf flowing behind him.

Inside of the trash, a crumpled-up piece of paper slowly unfurled to reveal the image of a heart.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"You!" Arlene yelled at the arrivals as soon as she put the intercom speaker down. Rather, she yelled at one particular fire nymph who was now slowly backing away from the furious storm spirit. The once-weary Sora, Riku, and Kairi were now alert and pretty frightened themselves. They slowly inched towards the wall, hoping that it was out of Arlene's blast range. From what they had heard Myde say earlier, the trio did _not_ want to get hit by that lightning.

"Oh, uh, Arlene!" Lea exclaimed. "I didn't know you, uh, had a job now." He chuckled nervously, still slowly inching to the doorway.

"I do, no thanks to you!" the storm nymph growled in reply. Electricity slowly began moving towards her blonde antennae. "If it weren't for you and your dirty mind, I'd –"

"_Ahem-hem."_

At the bottom of the staircase stood Ansem, his arms crossed over his chest. Although he wore a very serious expression, a faint spark of amusement danced in his eyes.

"Excuse me for interrupting your squabble, but I'd prefer my lobby stay intact for a couple more years at least," Ansem told the two of them. "I do not need to deal with a burning building at the moment."

He was right: the building would probably burst into flames soon. Arlene's electricity was at the point where one could feel the electrons in the air, while Lea's body began steaming for a quick self-defense. Sora and Riku weren't quite sure why they were still alive through the heavy heat filling the atmosphere the two nymphs had produced.

"You heard the man, Arly!" Lea said triumphantly, exhaling with relief. Arlene opened her mouth to speak, but Lea cut her off with a "see yah around!" before bursting into flames.

A silence ensued, broken only when Arlene began muttering, "How dare he call me that?" and angrily slamming away at her keyboard. Finally, once Sora let out an unintentionally large yawn, Master Ansem gestured for the tired teenagers to follow him to the elevator just up the spiral staircase.

"Who was that?" Ansem asked as they made their way up the stairs.

Riku was the one to answer the scientist. "That was an acquaintance of Myde, named Lea. According to him, Myde got into some sort of accident."

The scientist shook his head in disbelief. That faery was incredibly accident-prone, wasn't he?

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Kairi's feet _hurt_.

It wasn't just the typical dull ache one gets in their feet after a hefty workout. Oh no; it was more like the feeling you get when you're dancing on top of hot coals with tiny brownies jamming their rigged hammers into every inch of your feet.

Needless to say, the cause of her pain was probably because she had never used her feet as much as she had today. After all, she'd only had them for just over a week.

To say that she was relieved at the sight of the elevator was an understatement. Her indigo eyes practically teared up with delight as she fell to the tiled floor, eager to relieve her burning feet. Master Ansem raised an eyebrow at her antics, but Kairi didn't care at this point. If her feet were happy, then she was happy.

"Would you three like to stop in the cafeteria?" Ansem suggested to the three of them. Kairi's heart stopped at this comment. A trip all the way to the cafeteria would surely cause her feet to fall off. "_No!" _her brain screamed. _"Just take us to where the beds are!"_

Riku shrugged, saying that he was fine either way. It appeared that he had caught his breath long ago, and was now calmly leaning against the elevator wall. Darn him and his elvish stamina; at the rate this was going, they were going to end up walking to the cafeteria!

Thankfully, Sora objected to heading to the cafeteria. "I really…just need to crash right now!" Sora explained, yawning halfway through his sentence. Kairi could've kissed him right then, but that would have been rather awkward.

Ansem nodded, and then pressed a button labeled "H" on the operation panel. The elevator gave an unsteady lurch before slowly climbing up its shaft, letting out loud creaks every so often.

"I don't use the elevator too often," Ansem told the trio after they felt their surroundings jolt unexpectedly. "I prefer to use the stairs in order to stay in shape."

Riku eyed the wall he was leaning on nervously, as if it might collapse at any minute. "Are you certain that it's safe to ride in this?" he asked Ansem.

A mysterious glint appeared in Master Ansem's tawny eyes. "I believe so," he started, "but it has been ages since I last used it. Ever since…" he trailed off suddenly, peaking the teen's curiosity.

"Ever since what?" Sora pressed eagerly.

_Creeeeeaaaaak._

Master Ansem's eyes shot straight up to the ceiling, the source of the giant creaking sound. "Monstro?" he asked timidly. "Is that you?"

_Creeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaak._

"I apologize for disturbing you. If you would be so kind as to not eat the elevator, I shall give you a treat later tonight."

An expression mixing that of revulsion and horror passed over the faces of the three teens. As the elevator finally pulled up to its level and the doors slid open, they practically fell over each other in an attempt to escape the moving death trap.

Behind them, Master Ansem chuckled slightly. "Children are so gullible," he mused to himself.

They found themselves standing in the middle of a long, white corridor that the elevator had spat them out at, lined with only four metal doors and large glass windows.

"Boy, that was a close one!" Sora panted.

The brief adrenaline rush each of them had just wore off, leaving them worse off than before – particularly Kairi.

"I apologize for back there, I just couldn't resist." Three heads whipped around to find Ansem wearing an amused grin. Sora and Kairi looked dumbfounded, but Riku's expression turned into a mild glare. As he was about to say something, Ansem spoke once more.

"Now then, let's show you to your room?" he suggested. "It's just the hospital you awoke in. I'm afraid we don't have any lodgings here at the laboratory."

With that, he strode to the closest steel door and began entering a code on a panel nearby. After a fingerprint and an iris scan, the large entrance swung open automatically to reveal the hospital room that the three had awoken in earlier that day. Kairi collapsed in the bed closest to the doorway, causing the pain in her legs to subside just a little. Riku and Sora, on the other hand, mustered the energy to trudge towards the beds they had awoken in (although Sora practically hurled himself into his).

"Where's Olette?" Sora asked suddenly, his voice muffled by the pillow he had collapsed into.

Ansem scratched his head thoughtfully. "She's discovered my technology center. Being the gamer she is, I'd be surprised if she made it up here at all tonight," he said lightly. "Now then, I shall leave the door cracked in case you muster the energy to head to the cafeteria. It's on the second floor in the east wing, if you forgot."

On that note, Ansem slowly backed out of the door frame and into the hallway. As he began closing the door, he uttered, "testing begins tomorrow!" before heading back down the hallway.

A peaceful silence filled the room as the teens relaxed in the hospital wing, broken only by the faint breathing of the fey. The only light in the room came from the dim ceiling lights lining the hallway, which was mainly blocked by the tinted windows of the hospital room.

"I'm not that tired anymore," Sora stated, breaking the silence of the room.

"To be honest, I'm not that tired now as well," Riku admitted.

In the bed by the door, Kairi snorted. "Speak for yourself; I haven't felt this tired in ages!" she exclaimed. She paused for a moment before saying in a more serious voice, "Hey, this is the first time we've had a chance to actually, you know, get to know each other."

Across the room, someone's bed sheets rustled. "Get to know each other?" Sora finally asked.

"Yeah," Kairi said. "I mean, we've been running around through all these crazy situations, but we don't really know much about each other. I just figured that since we're gonna be stuck in the same boat for a while, we may as well get to know each other better."

Riku and Sora chuckled a little at Kairi's suggestion, which caused the mermaid to frown in the darkness. "What's so funny?" she asked in a confused tone.

"That's such a girly thing to say, Kairi!" Riku pointed out with smirk, which, luckily, she couldn't see at the moment. "However, if it would humor you, I guess we could go in a circle and tell a little bit about ourselves."

Kairi's cheeks flushed pink in the darkness. Ugh, boys were so…what was the word? Unempathetic? Apathetic? Yes, that last word was the one she was looking for: apathetic. "I just meant that, like, we should—I mean, like—not like – ugh!" Kairi attempted to form a complete thought, but she was too flustered to even speak straight.

"Jeez, calm down already; I'll go first, if you want," Riku placated her mockingly. "I'm Riku of Locked Hearts. I am sixteen as of today, as well as a citizen of the Northern Elven Forest. Sora, why don't you go next?"

Riku was met with silence. "Sora?"

Finally, the brunet spoke. "Sorry, I was just getting over the shock of hearing you speak more than a few fancy words."

The elf snorted at Sora's comment. Of course, the most extroverted one among them would be the one to point that out. "I prefer to not to spill all of my sarcastic thoughts out to people I am not familiar with," Riku explained simply.

For some reason, this statement seemed to excite Kairi. This was some sort of progress to her "getting to know each other better" plan! "Does that mean you're considering us familiar people?" she asked Riku.

"You say that as if it's a good thing," Sora remarked with a shudder. "I know several sarcastic people, and, boy, are they jerks sometimes."

"Hey, sarcastic people aren't necessarily jerks!" Kairi protested. "My sister can be very sarcastic, but under all that is a very kind person. Some people just use sarcasm to hide their softer side."

An amused grin appeared on Riku's face, although it was hidden in the darkness. Sora, on the other hand, snorted at Kairi's statement. "Sure, their 'softer side,'" he said slowly, making quotation marks in the air.

"Oh, you guys are hopeless!" Kairi exclaimed exasperatedly.

Sora chuckled at the redhead. Even Riku was amused by Kairi's frustration, although he didn't demonstrate it. Once the amusement died down, Sora – ever the distracted one – found a new topic to discuss. "Heya, Riku?" he asked the silverette. "How did you know Wakka?"

In reply, Riku shrugged. "I met him when he was dragged to our forest from your islands," he said simply. "He was extremely casual and lazy from his time there, and I made several remarks about his attitude. That somehow gave him the idea that we were friends. There isn't much else to the story other than that."

"Oh, I get it!" Sora suddenly exclaimed. "Wakka took you to visit the islands to lighten you up, I bet."

Riku shook his head. "No, it wasn't anything like that at all," he told the faery.

"Then why did you randomly come to the islands?" Sora pressed.

The silver-haired teen stared at the ceiling with his opalescent eyes. Why had they come to the islands? Heck, why had Wakka brought him to the islands after…that? Had it been a spur-of-the-moment decision, a last resort? Why had Wakka been with him in the first place? Was it that mysterious thing called 'friendship'?

"You know, I'm still trying to figure that out," Riku admitted.

Sora scratched his head absentmindedly, pondering Riku's statement. "Well, why don't you just ask Wakka when we get back to the islands?" he finally suggested.

Riku stared at the faery. He always went for the most straightforward answer, didn't he? "That's a pretty simple-minded answer," Riku remarked.

"Y'know, you shouldn't think so hard about things when the answer's easy to get!" Sora responded brightly, his grin visible in the dim light.

"Besides," Kairi said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "how long do you think it'll be before we even get back to the islands?"

"Right after all this testing stuff is done," Sora stated confidently. "After all, we owe Ansem for saving our butts and all"—he paused for a minute—"I hope he's done the day after tomorrow, 'cause that's gonna be my fifteenth birthday. We can have a big party, play blitzball, eat paopu cake…and then, I'll bloom!"

Kairi couldn't help but smile at his childish confidence. For some reason, the words of Master Yen Sid began echoing in her mind: _"You are a symbol of light and childlike innocence. You brighten the lives of those around you, and will fight at all costs for the right thing."_

Riku, however, wasn't so certain that those events would come to pass. Somewhere, deep down in his heart, he had a feeling that both Yen Sid's prophecy business and Ansem's scientific research were, in fact, going to lead them much farther from the islands.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

The sun was setting in Radiant Garden, casting its faded orange rays across the clear skies. It was a beautiful sight, as everything was in this peaceful town. During this time, Scrooge McDuck was wrapping up his ice cream stand with his three fey helpers. Naminé was working with Xion to fill the cooler with uneaten ice cream and load it onto the mobile kiosk, while Repliku was taking down the sign advertising the pricing. Although it was only their second time performing this task, the fey were starting to get the hang of it. In fact, it was something they rather enjoyed doing – although they weren't sure why.

Perhaps it was because they were creating their own memories. Naminé and Repliku were loaded with a lifetime of memories that were not theirs to claim, while Xion had none at all.

"Repliku?" a voice called to the absentminded elf. He turned to see none other than the friendly old duck, Mr. McDuck himself. He had just finished storing the signs in a cabinet on the stand, and was now standing patiently by the front of the wooden kiosk.

"We haven't got all day, you know! Give me a hand in pulling this cart, would you?" Mr. McDuck said lightly, gesturing to his stand. Repliku muttered an apology before hurrying over and grasping the handles on the front of it, causing the wheels on the back to creak slightly. As soon as Repliku had a good grip on the kiosk, Mr. McDuck gestured for the three to follow him out of the pavilion. Naminé and Xion brought up the rear, cash box in tow.

"You three are perhaps the quietest young 'uns I've ever met," Scrooge said as they headed down the street. "Not that I'm complaining too much, but it really is okay for you guys to talk around me." He chuckled at the last part of his statement.

This was a situation that neither of the talking teens knew how to respond to. Not even the memories they had could aid them in forming a response; it was the curse of having the memories of more talkative fey and an elf. Repliku and Naminé glanced at each other. One of them had to come up with a response of their own – but how?

"I'm sorry," the two finally said in unison. It was simple and polite enough; surely it was a good response.

Well, it must not have been as good a response as they thought. As soon as they said it, a panicked expression fell on the duck's face. "Oh, no no no; there's nothing to be sorry for!" he said hurriedly, waving his wings for emphasis. "Do I really make you three so uncomfortable?"

It appeared as if their comment had done more harm than good. Perhaps they had better work on their conversational skills without relying on Sora, Riku, and Kairi's memories.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Meanwhile, the scenery in Yen Sid's abandoned kingdom didn't appear to be quite as beautiful as Radiant Garden. An overcast sky cast a large shadow over the demolished remains of the warlock's former tower, which was slowly being eaten away by the roots of the trees in the ominous-looking forest. The forest itself appeared to have gained a mind of its own, going wild with the creation of new trees and the incredible growth of less-than-beautiful plants. A hazy fog had settled over the entire expanse, completing the sinister scene. It was difficult to believe that this had once been a paradise for the misfits of the worlds.

In the midst of the tower rubble was the famous warlock himself, sprawled across a large chunk of tower. Groaning in pain, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and rubbed his head. What had just happened? He examined his surroundings, searching for clues as to what on earth could have knocked him out.

He was not expecting to see a shadowy creature sitting at his feet, staring at him with its unblinking eyes. It was a strange little being, standing at a mere three feet tall, from its feet to the tops of its thin antennae. Its body appeared to be composed of a slightly pudgy torso with next to no legs at all. Its arms were long in comparison, with curled claws where a human would have fingers. It vaguely reminded him of the gremlins he had summoned to ruin Even's project. Nevertheless, its mere presence startled the wizard. How on earth had such a thing gotten here?

"_I see you've awoken,"_ observed a familiar voice. Yen Sid looked down to see none other than his crystal ball sitting by him, the smoke inside of it a faded yellow color.

"What happened?" Yen Sid questioned the ball suspiciously.

It chuckled in response. _"I bestowed my gift upon you, of course. Is that not obvious by the presence of that creature?"_

Yen Sid's eyes shifted back to the little creature before him. Despite its unnerving yellow eyes, it appeared to be relatively harmless (not to mention useless). However, there had to be more to this creature than met the eye if it had knocked him out.

"I see," Yen Sid said contemplatively, stroking his silvery beard. "How did such a small creature manage to render me unconscious?"

"_It didn't,"_ the crystal ball replied. "_It was your summoning of the Heartless that caused you to lose consciousness. Have no worries; you'll adjust quickly to summoning them."_

_Them?_

There were more of them?

He could summon multiples of these little 'Heartless'?

"_Why yes, their numbers are practically limitless. You may summon as many as you wish with my gift. Although they may not seem very useful, they are perfect servants for your needs; your wish is their command,"_ the crystal ball explained, reading Yen Sid's thoughts.

He had a limitless army of subservient creatures? This was almost too good to be true. Surely there must have been a catch to this gift. He mentioned this to the crystal ball, whose color shifted to a more golden color.

"_You are very wise, Yen Sid,"_ it responded hesitantly. _"The downside is that I am only able to bestow upon you with these small, mindless versions of Heartless. If you wish for stronger ones, you must seek them out."_

Yen Sid nodded slowly. Now he understood the gift – both the positive and negative sides of it – and now he could safely test its power. Why did he still have an uneasy feeling then?

Finally, Yen Sid decided to ignore his illogical unease and experiment with his new power. "Go, search for any valuables that survived the rubble," he ordered the Heartless. Its antennae twitched, and then it scurried off into the rubble. After a few minutes it came back with a large spell book. There was something glowing inside of it, and the Heartless appeared to be trying to claw through the large book to the glowing object. Curious, Yen Sid slowly slid of off the tower fragment he had been sitting on and took the book from the Heartless's grasp. When he opened the book, the warlock saw something he hadn't been expecting.

It was a sliver of heart, most likely left behind from when he attempted to use Sora, Riku, and Kairi's in order to form his own Keyblade once more. The tiny fragment pulsed with a radiant golden light, despite its size; truly, it was part of one of their hearts.

"It's…beautiful!" Yen Sid said, awed by its presence.

"_Truly, it is wonderful. Imagine what you could create with that,"_ the crystal ball agreed. _"It would be wise to save such an item for a later time. In the meanwhile, let us seek out the more useful versions of these creatures."_

Yen Sid shook his head. "Building an army can wait," he told the crystal ball. "I have an idea for this little heart fragment.

Ah, yes; two could play that game, Ansem.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**I'm sorry if I'm ruining Yen Sid for anyone. D: **

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	19. Chapter 19:The Storm is Brewing

**FANFICTION! Your DocX system is bad, and you should feel bad. -.- **

**Seriously though, I tried sending it numerous times to my Beta Reader, but it just wouldn't go through! D:**

**Well, enough ranting; here are my anon replies from the last chapter - sorry for the delayed response!**

**Cherucha: Hmm, maybe; you never know. XD**

**nin4: Aww, thank you! Hehe, I guess he does...he shouldn't be a kidnapper/pedo in this story though. XD And not before Yen Sid destroys you! :P**

**Thank you Mystics Apprentice for being my awesome beta reader! :D**

**Oh, you may have noticed that I tried out the Image Manager thing. The picture I used was a picture of Kairi that I drew for this fic. You can view the full one on my Deviantart account, Mosstarkitteh, if you feel like looking. :P**

**DISCLAIMER: I own the plot, and that's about it.**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Darkness.

Darkness, everywhere.

It had formed an impenetrable barrier of black and purple covering the grimy, stone walls; filling the once-pure air and clogging the sewer tunnels.

Suddenly, a pair of yellow eyes opened in the darkness.

And another.

And another.

Blank, eerie yellow eyes illuminated the dark place, gazing hungrily around the room.

They needed sustenance; but where was it?

The darkness began writhing and moving about the room, searching for something to feed on. Finally, one pair of eyes spotted a stairwell. It moved the mass of darkness up the stone stairs and to a tightly sealed door. The darkness clawed at it, slammed against it and tore away at its smooth surface. However, its attempts were to no avail.

Suddenly, one pair of eyes spotted a crack in the stone wall beside the door. Despite its small size, the claws of the darkness could pry away at it to make a larger hole.

Food was in its future; soon, it would be free to eat and devour what it wished.

Soon.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Myde returned the next morning with a large, ugly bruise right in the middle of his forehead. He did make an effort to cover it – if two tiny Band-Aids count as coverage. (To be fair, it probably would've taken one of those large Band-Aids that one wears over a skinned knee to fully conceal it.)

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were eating breakfast in the cafeteria/lounge area when the rocker faery entered the room. Despite the large bruise on his forehead, he appeared to be in good spirits that morning. He hummed a little tune under his breath as he greeted Ansem and the young fey companions before grabbing a bowl of cereal and scarfing it down.

"So, what happened between you and Mr. Lea yesterday?" Ansem asked Myde as the faery finished up his breakfast.

Myde shrugged, taking a sip of orange juice. "It was just a little problem I had with him. It was no biggie, really!" he replied casually.

In response, Ansem raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you leave these three" – he gestured to the teenaged fey before him – "and run off after your friend?"

At this, Myde got a little agitated. He stared into his juice glass for a minute before he finally replied, "He took something of mine, and I freaked out. I do it all the time, really! I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going." He chuckled nervously. "I'm a wee bit of a klutz, after all!"

Ansem stared at his employee for a moment before returning his gaze back to his own meal. "Well then, I hope you're ready to catch up. Even and I are going to begin the testing today, so we will require your assistance," he said in a no-nonsense manner.

"Yes, sir!" Myde responded enthusiastically.

As they were talking, the five of them hadn't noticed a groggy light faery enter the room. Heavy dark circles lined her emerald eyes, and her brunette hair was a frizzy mess. She grabbed an apple before collapsing at the table, groaning.

"Well, it seems as if someone managed to pry themselves from the computer room," Ansem commented with an amused grin.

Sora's eyes grew wide at the sight of his old friend. "You played on the computer all night?" he exclaimed to Olette, who merely responded with a grunt.

"Well, since you're here, I may as well fulfill my promise to you," Ansem continued saying to Olette. "Once you are ready, I will escort you to my lab; Myde will take you three to Master Even."

On the other side of the table, Riku frowned. "Promise?" he repeated questioningly.

Ansem nodded to the elf. "Yes, I promised to have some of her questions answered for her brave acts performed earlier. It shouldn't take too long, since I have a hypothesis or two regarding her unique qualities."

After munching some of her apple, Olette finally spoke. "I'm ready whenever."

Ansem nodded and rose from the table, gesturing for Olette to follow him. She grudgingly pulled herself up from the table and trudged behind him.

"You know, I may have some coffee in my laboratory upstairs. Would you like some of that?" Ansem offered the light faery as they exited the lounge. Olette immediately perked up a little and nodded rapidly. "Coffee sounds amazing right now!" she admitted. As they closed the door, she even worked up the energy to wave to her friends with Myde, to which Sora and Kairi returned. Once she was gone, the three turned to Myde.

"So, are we going to go to Master Even's room now?" Kairi asked the blond. He nodded rapidly and jumped to his feet, straightening his wrinkled lab coat in the process. "Yep, let's get going then!" he said enthusiastically. Together, they headed out of the lounge and down the corridor.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Myde?" Riku asked the assistant as the four of them walked down the hallway. "How exactly do you know the faeries that we ran into yesterday?"

Myde scratched his head. "Well, I've known Lea for a looooong time," he started. "And now we're in a band together! Well, I mean, we have been for a while, just not as long as we've known each other."

Well, that wasn't very helpful. "What about the others?" Riku pressed.

"Oh, them?" Myde said. "Well, they – " Suddenly, his face paled. "Wait, who are they?"

"They were with Lea when you flipped out; I figured you would know them, since you and Lea are so close," Riku explained, a suspicious expression crossing over his face.

Myde laughed nervously. "Nope, I've never heard of them! I don't even remember seeing them yesterday."

Riku frowned; for some reason, his response just didn't seem right. "But they work at the ice cream place you visit every day," he pointed out.

"Wait, you know Naminé and her friends?" Kairi said suddenly.

All these questions about the people that he was supposed to throw away were driving Myde off the brink; he had no idea what to say that would cover his tail. Three big eyes were staring at him with questions that he just couldn't answer, especially in this facility. How was he supposed to get out of this?

Salvation was in sight – a form of salvation known as Even's laboratory. "Oh, here's Even's lab!" Myde announced, practically running to the door. "Let's hurry up so we don't keep him waiting!" He threw the door open, holding it for the perplexed Sora and Kairi and a now-very suspicious Riku to enter. Inside was an area much like the inside of his Gummi Ship: a bland room covered in strange metallic instruments and colorful bottled liquids. To the left of the entrance was a desk where Even sat, muttering to himself and scribbling away at a clipboard.

"Eh, Mister Even?" Myde called. "We're here!"

The blond scientist spun his chair around to face them. "Oh, hello again," he said rather vacantly. "You three can go sit in the chairs over there; I'll be right over. Myde, gather all of my supplies from the storage closet."

Myde nodded and darted off, eager to escape the young feys' questions. That had been much too close for his comfort, and he hoped that he wouldn't come that close to revealing his actions again.

While Myde began collecting the scientist's supplies, Even gathered several papers and arranged them neatly. The three fey fidgeted in their chairs. Finally, Sora piped up.

"Hey, what happened to all that other testing you did?" he asked innocently. This question seemed to have pushed one of Even's buttons, for his neutral mood abruptly turned sour.

"Well," he said curtly, "my perfect project was so rudely vandalized by the warlock himself, rendering it completely useless." He irritably continued scribbling away at a paper. "All of that planning, sample collecting, skillful chemical blending…all of it went to waste!"

The room went silent for a moment before Sora decided to ask another question. "So, we just have to do all of that testing again and we'll be free to go?" he asked the scientist.

Even shook his head. "Oh no, you're going to have to be here a couple weeks at the most to get all of this testing completed."

This was news to the trio. "But the testing back at Yen Sid's kingdom took fifteen minutes tops for each of us," Kairi protested. "Why is it going to take so long now?"

The scientist merely shook his head. "It's much too complicated for young ones like you to understand, especially without a basic understanding of science."

At that moment, Myde came rushing in with his hands full of delicate substances, syringes, test tubes, and other items that the fey had no name for. He placed them on a work table opposite of Even's desk before darting towards the entrance. "I think Mister Ansem needs my help," he called as he left the lab. "Toodles!"

Myde's strange behavior caused Even to raise an eyebrow. "Well, he sure seemed eager to leave," he commented as he shuffled the new supplies around.

"More like he was eager to avoid our questions," Riku muttered, annoyed.

"If that's the case, I don't blame the fellow," Even retorted. "I would be eager to avoid your questions too, since you have so little understanding of science." On that note, He filled a syringe with a clear liquid and approached the fey. "Now, who wants to go first?"

Sora made a face. "Something tells me that I'm not gonna have a very fun birthday tomorrow," he said as he reluctantly held his arm out for the needle. "Well, I guess we do owe it to – ouch!"

With the prick of the needle, testing had begun for the three of them.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Once again, Lea was guiding Naminé, Xion, and Repliku to Scrooge McDuck's place to start their part-time job. It was unusually warm for midday, meaning that business would probably be booming. As they arrived at Scrooge McDuck's apartment, he welcomed the three into his home and waved goodbye to Lea – who was heading home for a nap before leaving to his own job. He lead his employees to the stand. As usual, they loaded the ice cream into the cooler and grabbed the signs before heading outside to the parked kiosk. All the while, Mr. McDuck attempted to coax a conversation out of the three to little avail; they just had absolutely no clue how to respond (save for Xion, who probably didn't know how to talk at all).

Today, however, something unusual happened. As Naminé and Xion were attaching the coolers to the kiosk, Xion reached into one of them and pulled out a stick of sea-salt ice cream, which she promptly began to eat.

Naminé stared at the raven-haired girl for a moment. It was the first time that Xion had acted of her own impulse, a breakthrough of sorts for the mute. While Naminé realized that she should have been happy for her friend, she couldn't shake the thought of taking food without asking was bad – something she learned from the memories she held.

"Um, Xion?" Naminé asked nervously. "I don't think you should be eating that without asking."

Xion made no attempt to respond or regard the blonde faery. Instead, she continued to eat the ice cream. Naminé shot a pleading glance to Repliku, who was just about to start pulling the kiosk. He dropped the front of the booth and walked over to the girls, although he was equally unsure about how to handle the situation.

"Xion, you have to pay for that," he told the girl. He pulled a few spare munny coins and held them out to Mr. McDuck, as to show her an example. "See? That's all you have to do."

"Oh no, it's quite alright!" Mr. McDuck replied with a chuckle. "I'm just glad to see her so excited about my ice cream."

"Oh no, I insist –"

"No."

Three heads whipped around to find the source of the new voice.

"No." This time, they realized it was none other than Xion speaking. She casually went back to finishing her ice cream, dropping her stick to the ground as she ate the last bite. Scrooge McDuck stared in shock at the clean ice cream stick in silence, Naminé and Repliku following suit.

Finally, the old duck spoke. "I thought you said she was a mute," he said to the other two.

"She was," Repliku answered. "That is, until now."

Mr. McDuck glanced at the ice cream coolers, and then at Xion. "Well, I knew that my ice cream was described as magical, but – wow!" he exclaimed. "It can cure the mute after years of silence! I wonder what else it could do…"

Naminé and Repliku shared a look before giggling at the duck's fantasies; they didn't want to burst his bubble and tell him the real story. Besides, Xion had taken a step towards becoming her own person, even if it were for just an instant. That was reason enough to forget the details and celebrate, was it not?

Although they never said it aloud, the two shared the same thought in that moment: perhaps Xion's breakthrough meant that the two of them had a chance to evolve as well.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

In the ruins of the Kingdom of Misfits, Yen Sid was scribbling away on a large piece of paper. To his left was the large spell book that his Heartless had retrieved, and to his right sat none other than his crystal ball. On the piece of paper was an intricate map of Radiant Garden, with notes and spells jotted down beside certain points.

After much grumbling and muttering to himself, Yen Sid sat up and examined his map with a critical eye. "There," he said finally, placing his quill down. "I believe I have constructed a fail-safe plan for obtaining what I need."

He placed the paper in front of the crystal ball for it to see. After a few minutes or so, it said, "Very good. I don't think I could have prepared a better plan myself. There is truly a reason for your fame, Yen Sid."

"Fame has nothing to do with it, nor is it what I desire," Yen Sid said curtly. "Besides, it is long gone now." With that, he rolled up the diagram and, with a snap of his fingers, caused the quill to vanish. "I must say, it is quite the coincidence that Radiant Garden contains both of the elements I require to rebuild."

If the crystal ball could've nodded, it would have. "That it is; who would've guessed that science could be so useful?"

"Indeed," Yen Sid answered with a chuckle. "Now then, enough of this chatter – we must place these plans into action."

He held his arms out and muttered an incantation under his breath. A large train appeared from a portal, the same one that used to transport misfits to his kingdom.

"Now then, are we ready?" he asked, turning to his crystal ball.

"Of course!" his crystal ball answered, a fiery orange filling its center. Yen Sid tucked the ball into the pockets of his robes and pulled his hood up before entering the train, closely followed by his Heartless. As soon as they were on, the doors swung shut and the train took off into the horizon.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**This is the last boring chapter for a while, I swear!**


	20. Chapter 20: Storm of Chaos, Part One

**Hey people.**

**Are you ready for some action? Well, it has come! I split this chapter up into two parts, so the next chapter should just as much fun. :D**

**I would like to thank Lunar Berserker for reading and reviewing my chapters regularly. It gives me the motivation I need to keep writing more! So, thank you Lunar Berserker!**

**Also, a big thanks to my Beta Reader, Mystics Apprentice! :D**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

It was a calm, peaceful evening in Radiant Garden. The kiosks had all cleared, the stores were closed, and families sat together outside to admire the stars dotting the night sky. It was the most photogenic scene one could imagine. After all, it was Radiant Garden – the perfect world.

There was one particular household, a family of five, relaxing under the stars. The parents were sitting on the desk of their little half-brick, colonial-style house while the three young children played in the grass. The eldest, a boy roughly around the age of eleven, was blowing bubbles high into the air, giggling as the younger ones tried desperately to pop them. Finally, the youngest one burst into tears of frustration, which was shortly followed by the tears of the other child. This caused the mom to reprimand the boy, urging him not to torture his sisters. The brother grudgingly obliged, and began blowing bubbles towards the young girls as opposed to over their heads.

Suddenly, the boy stopped blowing the bubbles. He cocked his head to the side, frowning in concentration. "Do you hear that?" he asked his parents, turning to face them.

His mother sighed in frustration. "Daniel, please stop this nonsense. You're going to scare your sist –"

"I heard it too!" the youngest one chirped.

"Me too!" added the other sister. "It sounds like Daddy when he's hungry."

Sure enough, a low rumbling noise could be heard in the distance. The longer they listened, the more the family noticed that the sound was steadily growing louder and louder. The house began to shudder violently, almost as if a machine was approaching –

_CRASH._

The children screamed as a dark object barreled through their roof, sending shingles and chunks of wall plummeting to the ground. The parents rushed to the side of their frightened children, trying to shield them from the debris.

_BOOM._

The thundering noise came from somewhere nearby. Overcome by curiosity, the boy called Daniel opened his eyes and glanced in the direction from which it came. He was not expecting to see a train buried into the base of the science laboratory a mere hundred yards away.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Inside the train, a warlock was dusting off his dark blue robes. Beside him, a crystal ball in a cushioned box flashed in dangerous shades of orange and yellow.

"_That should do the trick," _the crystal ball said, its voice filled with satisfaction. _"That was quite an idea you came up with."_

The warlock, however, didn't seem quite as confident. "Are you certain that the Heartless we need are below the laboratory?"

"_I am quite sure,"_ the crystal ball assured Yen Sid. _"The sewers below are old and decrepit; the walls should have collapsed somewhat in order for the smaller Heartless to slip out."_

As if to assure the warlock, a small, monkey-like Heartless clambered out of the ruins. Another followed it shortly thereafter, and together they sniffed the air. Slowly, as if sensing Yen Sid's power, they scampered over to the crashed train and stared at the old warlock expectantly.

"Go, do whatever you please," Yen Sid told the creatures, "as long as you give the occupants of this building a distraction."

A hungry gleam filled the Heartless' eyes. The dark creatures eagerly darted off to create mayhem.

"Well, that was simple enough," Yen Sid mused. He picked up the crystal ball and the spell book beside him. "Come; let us not waste any time." On that note, he took off into the laboratory.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Ugh, my arm hurts!" Sora complained as he walked down the hallway.

"Tell me about it," Kairi agreed grumpily, rubbing her right arm for emphasis. She just couldn't believe how many times they had to poke each of them to get whatever they wanted; shouldn't it only take one needle? It wasn't as though it'd make a difference whether they got numerous samples from blood or skin, as it was all from the same person, anyway.

Science confused her to no end.

Together, she and Sora approached the open hospital door and slipped through to fall onto their respective beds, eager to relax and escape from the tedious testing and Even's quirky comments.

After a few minutes of sweet, sweet silence, Sora asked, "When is Riku coming up here?"

Kairi scratched her head with her good arm. "Um, I believe Even said he wanted to keep Riku a minute longer for something or other, so he shouldn't be too long," she finally replied. Sora nodded in response, returning to stare lazily at the ceiling.

"I hope we get some sea salt ice cream tomorrow," Sora said suddenly, excitement lining his voice. "Maybe we could get a break and hang out with the kids who work there. It would be nice to meet some friends in the area while we're stuck in the lab area." He chucked lightly at the last part.

In the darkness, Kairi smiled slightly. It was kind of cute that Sora wished to spend his birthday in such a simple way: meeting new friends, eating ice cream, and just being happy in general. "That would be wonderful," she replied softly.

"I saw Even preparing some sort of pool in the lab before we left," he continued. "I bet tomorrow he's gonna make us swim laps after making it impossible for us to move our arms. You could probably do it pretty easily though, being a mermaid and all. Right?"

Swimming in the water? That actually sounded kind of fun to Kairi. "You bet!" Kairi replied enthusiastically. "It feels like it's been a while since I last swam and all – not that there's anything wrong with walking," she added hastily.

Suddenly, and idea popped into the girl's head. "Hey, how about we turn it into a race?" she suggested with a grin.

This statement perked Sora's interest. "A race? What kind of race?"

"Whoever can complete the testing in the pool fastest gets two sticks of sea salt ice cream during the lunch break!" she responded proudly.

Sora grinned mischievously. Now this was something to look forward to. "Oh, you're on!" he challenged. "Now, we just have to get Riku on –"

_Rumble Rumble. RUMBLE._

The entire lab began shaking, causing objects to slide off desks and fall from the walls. A glass vase shattered beside Sora, sending glass shards flying across the room. Sora quickly leapt out of bed and pressed his back to the wall, dodging the majority of the flying debris.

_BOOM._

A loud noise echoed through the lab, as if something had barreled into its sturdy walls. Thankfully, the building's shuddering ended abruptly with the boom.

Kairi slowly pulled herself up from the floor (which she somehow ended up on during the commotion) and grabbed the bedpost with a shaky hand. On the other side of the room, she could hear Sora panting heavily.

"What in the worlds was that?" he finally exclaimed between breaths.

"I don't –" Kairi began, but she stopped abruptly. Her indigo eyes had wandered to a curious shadow standing in the doorway…

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"What in the worlds was that?" Riku hissed, rubbing his head. He had taken a nasty fall during the incident and whacked his head on one of Even's large metal machines, something that would definitely leave a mark.

The scientist himself had already stood up and was observing the damage done to his room. The vials that he used to collect the samples that day were all intact, thanks to his decision to use plastic containers instead of glass. _"Thank goodness for my good decisions!" _he thought with relief as he counted the last vial on the ground.

"Um, hello?" Riku said in an annoyed tone. This drew the scientist from his thoughts, who turned to the teenage elf behind him. "Yes, what is it?" Even asked the elf shortly.

Surely this scientist was trying to purposefully annoy him. He took a deep breath before calmly asking, "Do you have any ideas as to what may have just happened?"

Even scratched his chin in thought. "I have no clue, to be honest. Radiant Garden has no nearby fault lines, so it couldn't have been an earthquake. I'll head downstairs to investigate; why don't you go find your friends?"

This seemed like a good enough plan for Riku. He nodded and took off at a brisk pace, stopping only to listen when Even shouted, "Take the stairs! The elevators are probably out of order."

Riku was up the stairwell to the hospital floor in a matter of seconds, thanks to his elven speed. He was almost to the hospital bay doors when a familiar voice cried, "Stop!"

Was that Kairi? He didn't have much time to ponder that, for his attention was now directed at a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. It was not much taller than Riku's waistline at its full height, including the top of its silvery helmet. On its chest was a heart-like symbol with a red 'X' in the center, similar in color to its spindly claws. Its unblinking yellow eyes went from staring down the occupants of the room to the new arrival, Riku himself. Slowly, it sauntered over to the elf, its claws poised above its head.

_Thump._

A pillow came flying out of the hospital room, hitting the creature smack-dab in the middle of the back. It fell on its stomach, leaving it momentarily stunned.

"We have to run!" Kairi cried, her voice shaking. Riku nodded and took off, Kairi and Sora at his heels. They darted down the stairwell together, closing and locking the doors to every level behind them. Finally, they reached the way to the lobby. Sora slammed the final stairwell door closed and darted down the spiral staircase, landing just behind Kairi and Riku in the lobby.

"Hey, why are you guys just –" Sora started, but Riku hissed at him to be quiet. Curious, Sora peeked around them to see what the holdup was.

He was not expecting to see Arlene viciously attacking a swarm of shadowy creatures. She was fighting tooth and nail with the beings trying to climb up and claw her by giving them a taste of their own medicine with her long nails and throwing them across the room.

_ZAP_. One unfortunate soldier-like shadow tried to climb up her leg. Arlene snarled and sent a wave of electricity at it, and it disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Well, what are you kiddos staring at?" she snapped at the trio as she zapped another creature. "Go get Ansem or something to stop this crap!"

Sora hesitated. "What about you?" he asked.

"Well, I would be fine if you, I don't know, got Ansem to get this under control!" she hissed, clawing at another Heartless.

"She's right; the sooner we get to Ansem, the better," Riku said. With that, they turned to the hallway to their right and darted off, in hopes of finding Ansem.

Arlene was alone once again with the Heartless, whose numbers seemed to have suddenly multiplied. A smirk played across the storm spirit's lips. She quickly summoned several pale-yellow kunai from thin air and shifted to a much more soldier-like stance, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes.

"Oh, it's on!" she shouted with an evil grin.

The Heartless didn't appear to stand a chance.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Inside Ansem's office, a particular brunette faery crawled out from under the scientist's wooden desk.

"What on earth was that?" she exclaimed, turning to Master Ansem. The blond himself was still sitting on his chair, his face a sickly pale. At the sight of this, Olette's shock turned into concern for the wise man.

"Master Ansem, sir?" she asked. "What's that matter?"

Ansem didn't respond to her. He merely stared at the foot of his desk with unblinking amber eyes. Suddenly, his eyes whipped to the doorway. The door had been knocked right down, and three ant-like shadows stood in the midst of the door's rubble.

"Heartless!" Ansem hissed. "How did they escape?"

Olette stared at him. "Heartless?" she asked questioningly.

"There's no time to explain," Ansem replied quickly, rising from his chair. "We must get somewhere safe immediately. Head straight down the hall and take a left until you see the hangar doors; I shall meet you there."

Now Olette was growing scared. "But what about the others?"

"I shall go find them. Hurry!" he urged her. Olette nodded and shrunk to her faery size. Just as she darted over the Heartless' head, Ansem shouted, "Remember the number code 142656!"

"142656. Got it!" she called back.

The faery girl zoomed down the hallway, avoiding fallen objects and wall rubble. She was nearly at the end of the hallway when SMACK!

"Why, hello there, Miss Olette," said a voice that sent chills down Olette's spine. She slowly looked up to see none other than Yen Sid himself standing before her. His beard was a lot scruffier than before and his robes were a little darker, but it was definitely the same frightening warlock. She could only stare at him with wide eyes, causing Yen Sid to chuckle.

"You don't seem to have the same fighting spirit that you did the last time we met," he commented with a smile. "I wonder why that is?"

That was a good question. _"Where was all the fire I had before?" _she wondered mentally. _"Darn it! toughen up, Olette!"_

The warlock took no notice of the brunette's inner conflict; he merely examined a map he had pulled out from his robes thoughtfully. After a minute, he rolled them up and told Olette, "Well, it was a pleasure seeing you once more, but I have work to do. I hope you discovered what you sought from the scientists!" On that note he was off, leaving Olette alone in the corridor.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Excuse me, do you know where Master Ansem's office is?" Kairi pleaded to a red-haired lab assistant, who looked suspiciously like a troll. He silently pointed down the hallway and to the right with a burly hand.

"Thank you so much!" she said graciously. Sora and Riku nodded and then took off, leaving the familiar assistant to smash the incoming Heartless. As soon as the trio rounded the corner, they fortunately ran right into Ansem the Wise himself.

"Master Ansem!" Kairi cried. "There are shadows everywhere, and they're attacking us and the staff! Arlene is –"

"There's no time to explain!" Ansem cut her off hastily. "We have to get out of here using my gummi ship; there's no stopping the Heartless!" He gestured for them follow him down a narrow hallway to their left. "We're flying out of here!"

Suddenly, Sora froze. "Wait, we're just going to abandon your employees and everyone in town?" he asked incredulously.

"And if you don't hurry, you're going down with them!" Ansem retorted. "You haven't seen what those monstrosities can do. They –"

"That doesn't make it right!" Sora shouted. "What about Arlene, and Myde, and Naminé, and –"

"I'm sorry about your friends, but there's no time! Myde just left anyway." He grabbed Riku's wrist to drag him down the hallway, but Riku pulled it away. "No, we aren't just leaving people to die! You get the gummi ship ready," he said harshly, glaring at the scientist. "Come on, Sora and Kairi."

Sora grinned at Riku's reaction. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" he said enthusiastically. He turned down the hallway that they had come from and ran off, accompanied by a determined Riku and Kairi. Ansem desperately reached out his arm, but it was a futile act – the trio was off once more.

Ansem sighed in resignation. "Be safe," he muttered under his breath. As he ran to the hangar doors (which Olette had opened earlier), he couldn't help but wonder if Yen Sid was onto something with his "strong hearts" theory involving those children. They had selflessly run off to try and round up survivors, while he had resorted to relying on his animalistic instinct for survival.

Guilt welled up inside of him as he darted into the hangar doors. Olette was waiting for him in the gummi ship, where she had opened the doors to allow the scientist entrance.

"We will wait a few minutes before flying off," he reported quietly to the faery. She nodded in return. Together, they sat in silence with their own thoughts.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

The three teens had just run down the hallway, stopping only to tell the orange-haired trollish assistant to run to the gummi ship. As soon as they entered the lobby, they noticed that the Heartless' numbers had increased dramatically. Arlene was cornered by the desk, slaying the creatures with her gleaming kunai. For each one she killed, however, a few more seemed to take its place. Arlene may have been a fighter, but she was wearing down; she couldn't keep going forever.

"Arlene!" Sora shouted above the commotion.

The nymph shot him a weary look over the Heartless. "What is it now, brats?"

Riku punted a Heartless that wandered too close to his foot. "Ansem has a ship; it's just down the hall!" he called.

"Well, that's good news," she panted, hurling four kunai at nearing Heartless. "But how in Hades am I supposed to GET THERE?"

She was right. The Heartless were still concentrated mainly around the nymph herself, since only a few had even noticed the three young fey. Sora, Riku, and Kairi shot each other a questioning glance, as if wondering what to do.

It was Kairi who was the first to offer a suggestion. "We need to distract them and lead them out the doorway," she gestured to the entrance, which was completely barricaded by the shadowy creatures.

It was better than nothing. They had to get outside anyway to find Myde. Sora ripped off one of his gloves and threw it at the Heartless.

"Hey, shadow-thingies! Over here!" he shouted tauntingly. Several of the dark beings whipped around, noticing the newcomers. They began slowly crawling over, like a pack of wolves hunting its prey.

"Okay, now!" Riku ordered. The three of them made a beeline for the door. The Heartless reacted quickly, scampering at their heels. They were quickly joined by the Heartless that had been barricading the door, freeing the trio's escape. This small joy, however, was obliterated by the fact that the heartless pursuing the fey had now increased in number.

"No biggie," Kairi muttered under her breath, as if to convince herself. She pushed a Heartless to the side with her hand and forced another to the side with her leg. All they had to do was break through the tiny creatures for a little longer. Push along for ten more feet. Nine more. Eight more…

They made it! Kairi slammed her hand down on the button, causing the doors to swing open. The three teens tumbled outside, along with many of the Heartless. The shadowy beings were now preoccupied with their new environment, leaving only a couple pestering the three of them.

"Thanks, kiddies!" Arlene shouted to the open doors.

"Well, I suppose that is better than being called brats," Riku muttered under his breath. Arlene dodged the few remaining Heartless and headed for the hallway opening. She had almost completely disappeared from view when –

_Blam._

A huge glob of darkness burst out of the lobby floor. Arlene froze in her tracks. This wasn't like the other Heartless; it was huge and spherical, like an evil wrecking ball with three whip-like appendages. Its eyes flew directly to Arlene, and within seconds it had knocked her flat on the ground.

Then, it did something strange. It reached one whip-arm into Arlene's chest. Her aqua eyes flew wide open, and she gasped in pain as the creature pulled something from her stomach.

It was a heart. A large, red glowing heart.

Then, just like that, Arlene's body vanished into thin air.

Kairi stared in shock at what had just happened. In the distance, she thought she heard Sora yelling. The dark ball turned to them as the lobby doors swung shut. Suddenly, someone was pulling her wrist. They had to find Myde and any other people, the voice seemed to say. She said something in response, although she could not remember what. Was she going into shock?

She must have been. After all, she had just witnessed Arlene's death.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**


	21. Chapter 21: Storm of Chaos, Part Two

**I probably should've told you guys this earlier...I am in the process of moving across the country, so chapter releases will be random for the next couple of weeks. That's also part of the reason this chapter is so late - that and writer's block. DX**

**On the plus side, this is a looooong chapter! I hope that'll make up for it. :3  
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**Special thanks to my beta reader, Mystics Apprentice! :D  
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**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-  
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About fifty feet from the Research Center, Myde was stretching his arms and wings. While he was happy with his job, he was always eager to get rid of that stifling lab coat; it gave his wings cramps and rendered him unable to lift his arms above his head. Surely they could make comfortable lab coats – they were smart scientists, for crying out loud!

Suddenly, while he was reaching down towards his toes, he heard something zoom over his head.

BOOM.

Myde's head shot straight up. He whirled around to see a…train?

Yes, it was the front car of a train that had fallen from the sky. Myde stared at it blankly for a minute, wondering what he should do. Perhaps he could go check and see if anyone was inside, but he quickly vetoed that thought when the train's door swung open.

"Well, they're alive," Myde said to himself. "I'd better leave the scientists to deal with it, since they're better with decisions like that. Besides, I'm hungry!"

As if in agreement, his stomach growled loudly. He patted it affectionately and then began to walk off in the opposite direction, switching to faery size in order to fly home. As he began to fly, however, he heard a strange scampering following him. Myde glanced over his shoulder curiously, only to be greeted by empty yellow sockets staring back. A shiver ran down his spine. He nervously turned around to see a whole army of small, yellow-eyed shadow-things of every shape and color. They appeared to be pouring out from the ground, Myde realized, right where the train had crashed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna let the scientists deal with this one," he decided. On that note, he flew off towards his apartment, followed by several scampering Shadows.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Inside the laboratory, Yen Sid was rummaging through Even's shelves. His crystal ball was perched on the top beside the spell book, offering advice every now and then to the old wizard. They appeared to be searching earnestly for something, as they were checking every phial and petri dish that was on the large bookshelf.

"At least Even here is incredibly organized," Yen Sid mused as he read a bottle's label. "All of these appear to be labeled and classified with a short description included. This is extremely helpful."

"Ironic, isn't it?" the crystal ball commented. "They are organized to a T to help him, but in the end it backfires and aides us."

Yen Sid chuckled at the crystal ball's statement. "I suppose that is true. Speaking of which, where did that scientist disappear to?"

The smoke within the crystal ball changed to a bronze hue. "I'm sure he's wrestling with the Heartless in an attempt to find Ansem at this moment," the crystal ball responded.

A low chortle escaped Yen Sid once again. The crystal ball, confused, changed to a shade of green. "What's so humorous?" it asked.

"Just another ironic situation," Yen Sid explained with a small grin. "After all, Ansem the Wise's creations are aiding us, are they not?"

Before the crystal ball could respond, Yen Sid pulled out a test tube filled with what appeared to be blood. "Ah, here we are," he said, his voice filled with satisfaction. "Are you sure this matches the heart fragment?"

"I'm positive," the crystal said confidently. "Now, let us find the last supplies that we need."

Yen Sid nodded and placed the vial into the pockets of his robes. Then, picking up the crystal ball and spell book, he moved towards Even's supply cabinet. After all, it wasn't like the scientist would be using his tools anytime soon.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

CRASH.

BOOM.

Homes and buildings were being raided and destroyed all around Myde by Shadows. One home to his left had just burst into flames, an attack which seemed to be a new progression. As if to confirm his observation, a small flying Shadow dressed in a red mage's outfit appeared just outside the flaming house.

"Great, now they can fly!" Myde moaned. "I have to hurry!"

The rocker faery began to fly faster, ignoring the fast-approaching scampering noises and the surrounding buildings collapsing into flames. He had to be close to his apartment, right? He had been flying for a while; surely he was at least halfway there.

Suddenly, he heard his name being called in the distance. It sounded far away, almost like in a dream. _Myde… Myde… Myde…_

"Don't tell me the Shadows can talk now!" Myde cried, muffling his ears with his hands.

Myde… Myde… Myde….

"I can't hear you!" Myde shouted to the Shadows, his eyes squeezed shut. "You have to speak louder than that to get to me!"

MYDE.

"That wasn't a challenge!" the faery protested. He finally lowered his hands, realizing that he couldn't just block them out.

"MYDE!"

This time, the voice wasn't quite as faint. In fact, it almost sounded like someone he knew. He turned around once more to see Sora, Riku, and Kairi running towards him, surrounded by a swarm of Shadows. Riku had what appeared to be a crowbar in his hand, which he'd been constantly using in order to run forward. Sora brought up the rear, using part of a building's wooden framework as a club. Sandwiched in between them was Kairi with a brick, which she used to clear the sides of their make-shift path.

"What are you guys doing?" Myde yelled incredulously.

"We have to get to the Gummi Ship!" Riku called back. "The Heartless are too strong; Ansem said Radiant Garden's done for!"

"We have to find survivors!" Sora added earnestly, stopping to whack a Heartless.

Myde froze in place. His hometown was done for; a lost cause that even the smart scientists could not fix. What in the world was going on?

"Can we at least check my apartment and see if they're alright?" Myde finally asked hopefully. Sora nodded and replied, "Of course! We're searching for survivors, aren't we?"

"Enough idling, let's hurry!" Riku urged his companions. They nodded and began to follow Myde, but stopped abruptly when they found their path blocked. They turned left and right in an attempt to go around the mob, but the Heartless had successfully trapped them in.

A loud roar echoed from behind them. They didn't even want to think about turning around to find out what it was.

Not too far ahead of them, Myde was stopped by a pack of flying Heartless. He slowly flew backwards until he was forced into the three young fey.

"Anyone have a plan?" Kairi asked nervously, staring at the countless yellow orbs around them.

Beside her, Riku shook her head. "Unless a miracle happens, we are pretty much done for," he replied bluntly.

"Could we try to plow through them?" Sora suggested, to which Riku snorted.

"Yeah, we are going to break through a wall of hundreds of heart-eating demons with a brick, a crowbar, and a piece of wood. Are you crazy?"

"I second Riku!" Myde threw in.

As the circle of Heartless closed in on the four, the fey huddled together and stared nervously at the monsters. The Heartless on the loose were no longer limited to the height of a small goblin: one towered way over their heads and stood on all fours, growling hungrily at its prey.

"Well, it's either charge out or wait around for a miracle," Sora pointed out, raising his weapon over his head.

"Or go out like Arlene," Riku added.

"Arlene?" Myde asked incredulously.

Sora ignored the rocker fey and continued. "Well, at least she went down fighting."

Finally, a Heartless made its move. It leaped at the trio, followed by several of its friends. Sora and Riku raised their weapons, Kairi threw her brick, Myde shouted something –

BANG!

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Back in the apartment, things weren't much better. The adults were fighting off the Heartless that had broken in, Lea with his fire and Ienzo with his rain. Repliku was a couple feet behind them, a large glass shard in hand from what had once been a window; Naminé and Xion were under the remains of a sofa, the young faery desperately trying to keep Xion calm and still. (Xion seemed to congregate towards Naminé the most, so she was given the task of staying with the dark-haired girl.)

"How many of these creeps are there?" Lea panted to his friend.

"I honestly have no clue," Ienzo responded curtly. He extended his arm and threw bullet-like water droplets at the Heartless.

"What, don't like not knowin' stuff?" Lea asked with a smirk, blasting several Heartless with his hands.

Ienzo stopped to glare at the fire spirit. "Just be quiet and keep fighting until I think of something!" he retorted.

Lea went quiet and continued burning the Heartless alongside Ienzo. The longer they fought, however, the more Heartless seemed to appear, and with each new wave came more variations of these creatures―

Like red floating ones immune to Lea's fire.

And human-sized Shadows with eerily large antennae.

And Heartless that shot laser beams.

"Screw this; we can't keep going on this way!" Lea finally exclaimed. "Those lasers burn like crazy, and if I get clawed any more I'm gonna lose my skin!"

"I'm going to…have to go with… Lea," Repliku said between breaths. Lea glanced over his shoulder to check on the silver-haired teen. He was a hot mess, with his clothes charred and falling apart and numerous scratches on his face and arms.

The fire nymph turned to his bookworm companion. "So, you got anything yet?" he challenged.

Ienzo killed a Heartless with a gust of rain before turning to Lea. "I have one, but it's not very good," he admitted.

"It's better than nothing!" Lea responded through gritted teeth. He burned through several Soldiers that were crawling all over the couch, dangerously close to Naminé and Xion. "Well, are you gonna tell us?"

The rain spirit nodded. "You and Repliku go clear a window of these things. Naminé?"

The little blonde faery peeked around the side of the couch, her hands wrapped tightly around Xion's wrists. "Yes?"

"Do you know any magic?"

Naminé furrowed her brow in concentration. Thankfully, Sora had taken some basic magic lessons in elementary school; she should be able to perform those. "I know some," she told Ienzo, who nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. At the first opening you get, try and seal off the window before more of these things crawl in," Ienzo ordered. "Lea, Repliku, start when I give the signal."

He closed his eyes and aimed his hands at the Heartless. A dark cloud began to form, rumbling and spitting out water. The Heartless in the doorway froze in place and stared at it, exactly as Ienzo had hoped.

"Now!"

Lea and Repliku leaped into action, whipping around and attacking the Heartless pouring in through the window. Naminé, still firmly grasping Xion's wrist, slowly scooted out of her hiding place and raised her free hand towards the ceiling.

It took several long minutes, but the two fey finally cleared the window for a few precious seconds. "Naminé, now's your chance!" Lea shouted.

Naminé, however, was already prepared. "Gravity!" she cried.

The effect was immediate. The ceiling above the windows crumbled and fell into the apartment, piling up in front of the window. Lea and Repliku leaped back, missing being squashed by the rubble by mere inches.

Ienzo, who was still fighting Heartless in the door, took a brief moment to check what had happened. "It's not permanent, but it should work until we formulate a better plan," he told the others. "If―"

"Look out!" Lea interjected. Ienzo whipped around to come face-to-face with a blue mage Heartless staring right back at him.

Whoosh.

Suddenly it burst into flames. Ienzo blinked several times, trying to process what had just happened.

"You're welcome!" the fire spirit said cheekily. "Don't worry, you can thank me properly later. Right now, we should seal these guys out." He jumped over to the bookworm, his hands raised in front of him. "Everyone ready?"

"Yeah!" Repliku said, stepping up beside the two. "We can do this!"

Naminé nodded determinedly and joined the two, dragging Xion with her. She raised her arm once more, ready to bring the entrance down.

"Well then, let's lock 'em out!"

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MIFITS-**

Xion didn't like the noise.

She didn't like the dark.

She didn't like it when people looked sad or angry.

Currently, however, all of the above was happening.

She wanted to run away, to hide from all of it―but the little girl with yellow hair kept her from doing so.

Now, she was sad and angry herself. Why couldn't she run away? Why couldn't she hide from all the darkness, noise and unhappy faces?

She heard them saying things, talking to each other. Their voices were loud, louder than before.

Why couldn't they just stop?

She heard more voices, the ones that came from inside her head. They were loud and unhappy, too; unhappy and surrounded by darkness.

Was there no place to escape?

Xion couldn't take it anymore. She screamed, screamed at the top of her lungs.

BANG!

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

An explosion of color filled the four feys' eyes, blinding them. When Riku finally opened his, however, he saw something that he had not been expecting.

His crowbar had changed into a familiar weapon – the sword he'd seen briefly in Yen Sid's tower. From its dark, bat wing-like blade, the angelic wing on the top, and the glowing blue eye on the hilt, Riku recognized it on the spot.

Riku didn't hesitate to use it. He slashed it across the cloud of Heartless, causing them to evaporate instantaneously.

"Well that was easy enough," he thought with satisfaction. He turned back to his companions, who were still smothered in the shadowy beings. Swinging his new weapon around, he eliminated the immediate Heartless with ease.

It was a nice weapon, he'd give it that much.

Sora and Kairi coughed simultaneously and dragged themselves up from the ground, followed by a full-sized Myde. As soon as they were up, their eyes darted immediately to Riku's new weapon.

"Woah, cool!" Sora gasped. "Where'd you get that?"

Riku shrugged. "I'm not sure, it just appeared to me," he admitted. "It kills the Heartless easily though, so I won't complain." As if to prove his point, he swung it through the cloud of Heartless and they disappeared into thin air.

Kairi stared at the spot where the Heartless had been before her eyes moved onto Riku's blade. "Hey, isn't that the one Yen Sid showed you?" she asked curiously.

"I believe it is," he replied, examining the blade again. "Well, we'd best get moving if we want to find other survivors, Myde's friends included."

Behind them, the giant Heartless bellowed at the top of its lungs. "Well, that would be our signal to leave!" Myde said. "I'll show you the way. C'mon!"

He leapt into the air and returned to faery size. The three below him nodded and took off behind Myde, Riku taking the lead to clear the path.

"Man, I hope I get a real weapon soon," Sora commented, whacking a Heartless with his building-frame segment. "It would make things a heck of a lot easier."

"Maybe we'll get our blades eventually, like Riku," Kairi replied hopefully. She had lost her brick in the Heartless dog-pile, and now felt pretty useless.

After several minutes of killing Heartless and running throughout the destroyed town, it was obvious that there were no other people around. They even had stopped briefly in several houses to investigate and take a breather, but Heartless seemed to have managed to crawl inside every building they stumbled upon.

"I hope everyone's okay," Myde said worriedly as they darted out of a Heartless-infested bakery.

"Well, we will find out soon," Riku replied. "How close are we to the apartment?"

The rocker faery gestured to the right. "It's just over there!" he informed them.

Together, they dashed down the road until they arrived at what appeared to have been an apartment complex – the key words being "have been." Heartless were either pouring in and out of holes where windows and doors used to be, or pummeling through the brick walls. The roof was partially collapsed in several areas, and the places where it remained were smothered in flames.

"Well, I guess we're going to have to force our way in and drag everyone out!" Sora sighed dramatically. "Jeez, how many of these things are there?" Despite his complaints, he brandished his weapon and glared at the building, ready to fight at moment's notice.

Beside him, Kairi was picking another brick up from the ground. Although it wasn't the perfect weapon, at least she didn't feel totally useless now. "Well, we'd better hurry," she pointed out, "or else they'll eat up the whole building."

They didn't need to be told twice. Myde hovered over the entrance and gestured for the kids to follow him. Together they ran into the ravaged building.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Xion's screech took the other fey by surprise. Four heads whipped around to glance at the raven-haired girl, an action that gave the Heartless a perfect opening. One good-sized Heartless leapt onto Lea and tackled him to the ground, locking him in a one-on-one wrestling match. Several others sneaked into the room and snuck up behind Repliku and Ienzo, which caught the fey completely off-guard.

Then, there was a blinding flash of light.

The Heartless inside the room vanished, causing the ones in the hall to hesitate. Ienzo, Lea, and Repliku arose from the ground and glanced around the room, attempting to locate the source of light. There, behind Naminé, stood Xion, a lightly glowing sword in hand. The color scheme was nothing out of the ordinary, with its gold-yellow hilt and metal blade. However, the end of the blade was twisted into the shape of a key. Xion stared blankly at her blade for a moment, fascinated by the light it emitted.

"Hey, do you think she'd let one of us use that?" Lea asked, breaking the sudden silence.

Ienzo gazed at the blade thoughtfully. "I'd say that Repliku needs it the most out of us. Naminé, do you think that you can get the sword from Xion?"

Naminé nodded, and then turned to her friend. "Xion, do you think we could use that?" she asked softly. Xion clutched the blade tightly, a defiant look in her eyes. "No!" she said firmly.

Outside of the room, they heard loud thumping footsteps coming from the stairwell. Lea, Ienzo, and Repliku glanced nervously at each other. What new Heartless awaited them this time around?

"Xion, please give us the weapon," Ienzo said firmly, holding his hand out expectantly. Xion didn't appear to have heard him; she continued staring at the blade, fascinated by the light that it gave off.

_Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump- th-thump._

The uneven footsteps pounded down the hallway. Either there were multiple new Heartless, or it was some strange new creature with multiple legs. Lea and Repliku drew their hands in close to their body, bracing themselves for the upcoming enemy. Ienzo growled under his breath and shot a glare at Naminé, who returned the glare with a helpless look.

"Just grab the weapon from her!" Ienzo said exasperatedly.

Naminé and Repliku exchanged a nervous look. "But―" Repliku began to protest, but it died in his throat the moment he met Ienzo's desperate gaze. The blonde and silver-haired fey glanced helplessly at each other once more. At last, Naminé slowly began prying the blade from Xion's hands.

_Thump. th-th-th-thump._

The loud footsteps stopped right outside the doorway. Ienzo inhaled sharply, his entire body tensing in anticipation.

"Here, you work on getting that blade; I'll hold 'em off!" Lea ordered. Before anyone could say anything else, he marched into the hall with his fists raised, knocking several Heartless away as he left.

Silence lingered for barely more than a moment. Then, a familiar voice began yelling something unintelligible. Was that…Myde?

Sure enough, Lea returned with Myde himself – who was full-sized by that point – followed by three shorter figures.

"Myde?" Ienzo asked incredulously. "How did you get –"

"You guys are okay!" Myde cried happily, interrupting Ienzo with an attempted hug. "I was so worried! There are no other people around and –"

"—and we have a means of escape," one of the shorter figures, Riku, finished the sentence abruptly. "But we have to hurry. C'mon!"

Ienzo nodded. "Well then, if someone will help Naminé with Xion, l believe we're ready." He turned to Lea for confirmation. The fire spirit shot him a thumbs-up in response, and together they fell in place with Riku. Repliku followed shortly thereafter alongside Kairi, leaving Naminé and Sora leading Xion in the rear.

Down the stairs they ran, with Riku, Lea, and Ienzo clearing the path for the young fey following them. After what felt like an eternity, they finally hit the first floor and darted outside into the chaotic night.

"Well, that was close!" Lea said breathlessly. "Now, how exactly are we escaping?"

Myde opened his mouth to explain, but a loud ROAR! cut him off. The group froze; eight pairs of eyes slowly lifted to see the behemoth of a Heartless from earlier. It reared up and stomped the ground, shaking the land around the party.

"Great, now what?" Myde moaned. "We only have one person with a real weapon –"

"Two," Sora and Naminé chimed simultaneously. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before gesturing to the girl they were leading. Sure enough, Xion was clutching a Keyblade like her life depended on it.

"Good luck getting her to use it," Ienzo retorted, "or taking it from her, for that matter."

Great, just great. They had come all this way, only to be trapped by the biggest Heartless of them all. Was this how it all ended? Would they have their hearts taken and fade away, like Arlene and the other citizens?

"Well, it was nice knowing you all," Riku sighed heavily, earning himself a shocked look from Sora.

"You're just going to give up?" he asked incredulously, waving his arms around for emphasis.

"Well, he kind of has a point," Ienzo pointed out. "We're going down either way, whether we fight it or not. Face it – we're exhausted, running low on stamina and magic, and we have only one truly armed person. The odds are not in our favor."

The giant Heartless bellowed at them, as if to prove the rain spirit's point.

"I'm with spiky over there. We can't just give up!" Lea pointed out determinedly. "If you guys wanna give up or whatever, that's cool with me. I'm gonna stick around and fight 'til the very end though, got it memorized?" He tapped the side of his head dramatically. "Now, scram or whatever!"

"What? You're just taking him on alone?" Myde exclaimed.

Behind him, Sora stepped out. "Nah, I like his way of thinking! I'll stick around with 'im and fight." He brandished his weapon.

Riku rubbed his temples slowly. "Great, now I feel guilty," he muttered, but he stepped beside Lea and Sora anyway. "Well then, let's get this over with." He raised his blade over his head, poised to strike.

The Heartless roared once more before charging at the eight of them, its giant horns lowered to run straight through them.

"Stop!" Naminé shouted, releasing a spell from her extended hand. The giant Heartless froze in place, so Riku took off and bashed it in the head.

Off to the side, Sora and Lea were firing away at the beast – Lea with his natural element, and Sora with his basic magic knowledge.

Finally, the creature broke free from the spell and charged at Naminé and Xion. Kairi threw her brick at it, stunning the Heartless in its tracks. In the distance, she thought she heard someone chuckle.

"Laugh all you want!" she shouted into the distance. A giggle escaped Naminé's lips, something that caused Xion to stare at her. The little faery was snapped back into reality when the Heartless snorted. She quickly uttered a simple spell, blasting it with a small blizzard, which did a minuscule amount of damage in the long-run.

As time wore on, the group began to lose their vigor; they were quickly fading, and the Heartless didn't seem to be fazed in the least.

"We can't keep this…up forever!" Repliku panted, landing beside Lea. The fire spirit himself was wearing down; his attacks were growing sloppier and he was dodging less and less of the creature's attacks.

The others were looking just as exhausted. Kairi was reduced to chucking debris at the Heartless. Ienzo and Naminé had doubled over in fatigue... Hope seemed to be much farther away now.

The Heartless must've sensed this, for it growled in triumph. It reared up once more, ready to bring its massive legs down –

―on the fey below it: Sora, Riku, and Lea.

"Watch out!" Ienzo and Repliku cried. The three began to dodge, but it was too late. The Heartless was crashing to the ground!

_CLING._

Something had flown right into the creature, causing it to lose its balance and miss its mark (for the most part, at least; Sora's foot wasn't spared from the Heartless' tumble.) Eight eyes shot up to the sky, each pair wondering what could've been strong enough to stagger the giant Heartless.

It was a Gummi Ship, piloted by Olette.

The Gummi Ship flew over the group and dropped the ramp attached to the bottom, revealing Ansem the Wise. He was carrying a weapon of sorts, similar in shape to a gun.

Signaling for the group to come aboard, he shouted, "Hurry, there isn't much time! I'll hold off the Behemoth; you hurry up and escape!"

"But what about you?" Myde protested. "We can't just leave you!"

A grim smile crept onto Ansem's face. "I must atone for the damage I have caused here, my cowardice that brought about the end of thousands of lives, the creation of these foul creatures…" His voice trailed off for a moment. He shook his head rapidly, as if to snap himself out of something. "Never mind my ramblings; go!" he ordered.

Naminé cast a hesitant glance at the scientist, but Xion nearly dragged the small girl into the ship. At the sight of them, Ansem frowned slightly and turned to Myde. "Are those the ones –" he began, but Myde's guilty look told the scientist all he needed to know.

"Myde, you have a stronger heart than you appear to have," Ansem commented wistfully. "I admire you for that."

_Rumble. Rumble. Rumble._

The Behemoth was rising from its place on the ground, overcoming its stupor from earlier. Its yellow eyes focused on the new arrival, and slowly it began to move forward.

"Hurry up and board the ship!" Ansem yelled.

"We can't leave a man behind!" Lea backfired angrily. He ran to Ansem's side with his fists raised, and was soon joined by a determined, limping Sora.

Unfortunately, Ienzo grabbed the feys' collars and began to drag them back. "We must leave; you have to let Master Ansem do what he feels is right," he told them.

"But we can't just leave him!" Sora protested, but his argument fell on deaf ears. Ienzo had dragged them to the ramp, where the weary group was waiting.

Suddenly, Sora managed to wiggle out of Ienzo's grasp. He ran forward – limping slightly from his foot injury – and threw his wooden weapon at the Behemoth, stunning it momentarily.

_BUH-BOOM._

There was an explosion of light, covering the entire area.

Then, the world went dark for Sora.

"Sora!" screamed a voice from the Gummi Ship. "Gosh darn it, someone grab the kid!"

Repliku grabbed the unconscious faery from the ground and hoisted him onto the lowered ramp, just in time for the takeoff. Lea relieved the silverette of Sora and took the faery to the back of the Gummi Ship.

From there, they flew in silence for the loss of Radiant Garden.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Inside Even's office, Yen Sid was chanting loudly over a memory pod. Dark and light tendrils of smoke worked their way around the pod, seeping into the cracks and forming a silhouette inside.

"_Prepare yourself, for the final incantation!" _the crystal ball yelled triumphantly.

Yen Sid nodded, and waves his hand at the smoke. Upon sensing this, the smoke tendrils froze; slowly, they began to expand, thickening until they had become small clouds.

Smiling mysteriously, the wizard slowly raised his hands over his head.

"Nimm das Blut, Nimm das Herz," he recited, slowly waving his arms back and forth, "Bild einen Mann, und mach ein Führer." (1)

The smoke clouds surged into the memory pod, disappearing from sight. Exhausted, Yen Sid slowly exhaled and sat down on the ground.

"_Do you think it worked?"_ the crystal ball asked anxiously, its colors shifting between black and orange.

"We'll find out," replied the weary warlock. After a moment of rest, he pulled himself up and pressed a button on a remote he was holding. His wide, white eyes stared eagerly into the pod as it opened, despite his fatigue from reciting the spell.

Two large, cerulean eyes stared back at him.

"_Ah, wonderful!"_ The crystal ball exclaimed. _"Now, our pet, what shall we call you?"_ It paused for a moment, thinking about what name would best suit their creation. A couple moments later, it flashed white with excitement.

"_Ah, I know! We shall call you Roxas."_

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

(1) "Take the blood, take the heart; build a man, and make a leader." It's German, if you couldn't tell. XP


	22. Chapter 22: Refugees

**Yeah...sorry about that wait guys. :/ **

**I have lot's of stuff going on right now, and so my free time is been almost completely obliterated.**

**I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out; I plan on taking a short break from it during October so that I can (hopefully) write some Halloween one-shots, and I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to write a chapter between now and then.**

**I did put up a one-shot the other day. It's not Misfits related, but it's kind of more of the style I'm trying to work towards. Feel free to check it out. :)**

**Many thanks to my beta reader: Mystics Apprentice!**

**Disclaimer: If you actually think that I own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy...I'm going to have a bad time. :O**

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS- **

"_What is…doing?"_

"_Suddenly…out."_

"_He…"_

"_What the…happened?"_

"…_know."_

"…_You think…"_

"_Sh…waking…"_

Sora's eyes flew open. His vision was blurry, but he could make out a redhead to his left and a silver-haired man in the entrance of the room.

"Riku? Kairi?" he groaned, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "Where am I?"

The redhead sighed heavily. "Dude, you're so out of it. I'm not Kairi, I'm Lea – got it memorized?" he said rather irritably.

"Calm down, Lea; that's to be expected from someone who has been unconscious," the figure in the doorway said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sora rubbed his eyes and blinked, clearing his vision slightly. Sure enough, the figures in the room were not Riku or Kairi. Lea stood in the room, tapping his foot impatiently and grumbling while the gray-haired storm spirit from the apartment rested against the doorframe. Wasn't his name Ienzo or something along those lines?

Grunting, the faery pulled himself into a sitting position and glanced around the room. The walls were a basic blue color, while the floors were tiled with solid yellow and red squares. The yellow four-post bed he had awoken on held the same color scheme, complete with a blue and red quilt he had crumpled up. It vaguely reminded him of his preschool back on Destiny Islands.

"Where am I?" Sora asked Lea, who was now playing with a flame he had summoned.

"We're on the Gummi Ship," he responded casually. "We've been flying aimlessly through space for over a day now, so you haven't missed out on much."

Just then, a blond blur zoomed into the room. "Sora, you're okay!" Myde said happily, landing just beside Lea. Glancing over the teen, Myde let out a whistle. "Wow, wait until everyone sees you!"

Before Sora could ask what on earth the rocker faery was talking about, Myde called out, "Hey! Sora's awake, everyone! Come and see him!"

Kairi bounded into the room, followed closely by Xion, Naminé, and Riku. Each of them appeared to have their fair share of bruises and bandages, although Repliku – who brought up the rear of the group – appeared to have taken the hardest hit with his arm wrapped in a makeshift sling.

"Hey guys!" Sora said cheerfully, waving at the newcomers. "Great to see you all up and running!"

The other teens merely stared at Sora, making the brunet a little uncomfortable. Why wasn't anyone talking?

"Hello!" he called worriedly. "Earth to everyone?"

Riku was the first to speak. "Well, you look refreshingly" – he struggled for an adjective – "bright."

At this statement, Lea chortled slightly. Ienzo flashed the fire spirit a glare, so Lea quickly covered his laughter with a coughing fit. Sora raised an eyebrow, giving Ienzo a questioning glance.

"What we are trying to say is that it appears as though you have finally bloomed." Ienzo clarified in a formal manner.

Did he just hear that correctly? After years upon years of waiting, Sora had finally bloomed? He held his arms out and examined his body, noticing for the first time the intricate white tattoo swirls wrapping around his forearms and his calf muscles. Lea tossed the boy a small hand mirror from his pocket (Sora briefly wondered why Lea had that on hand) so that Sora could see his face. More white swirls curled around his cheek and collar bones, and his eyes now held golden sparks as opposed to clouds. His hair had grown wilder – if that was even possible – and, from what he could see, his wings had grown larger and appreared to be giving off a bright light, as if they were made from pure energy.

"I look so cool!" Sora gasped finally.

Lea chuckled. "Don't get too arrogant yet, kid," he told Sora jokingly.

"Like you should be the one saying that!" Ienzo said indignantly, crossing his arms in disapproval.

"What, gettin' a little jealous, Ienzo?" Lea retorted with a smirk. "Don't worry, not everyone can be as great as me."

"I am perfectly confident with my appearance," Ienzo replied with satisfaction. "However, mere looks won't get you far in life. Remember: books, not looks."

As Lea and Ienzo began bickering – Myde being trapped in the middle of the two – Sora turned to face his friends, his signature grin plastered on his face. "Wadd'ya guys think?" he asked excitedly.

Kairi smiled at him. "Nice! It's like an automatic birthday present!" As soon as she said this, her smile faded and her indigo eyes fixed themselves on her feet. "I'm sorry we couldn't get you anything that you wanted…"

"It's not like they had the time though," Naminé interjected.

Sora waved his hand casually. "Don't worry about it! Besides, I finally bloomed and I have my friends! I don't need much more than that. Besides, now I can grow to be taller and buffer than Riku!"

At this, Riku raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that will occur any time soon, if at all," he replied seriously, but a flash of amusement appeared in his opalescent eyes.

"And what makes you think that?" Sora challenged.

"You're a faery; since when were they ever strong warriors?"

"Hey, there are plenty of tough faeries! Don't listen to stereotypes!"

On the sidelines of the conversation, Naminé and Repliku giggled. Riku turned to face them, his expression changing to something more serious. "Well, now that we're all awake, can we finally get some facts straight and leave for a world?" he asked, his eyes still fixated on an uncomfortable Repliku.

"I was going to say the exact same thing," came a voice from the hallway. Olette – in her regular faery size – was floating just outside the entryway. "Let's go to the cockpit, that way we can map out a course while we get things straightened out," she suggested.

She turned to fly out, but stopped and did a double-take on Sora. "Woah, you finally bloomed!" she gasped. "Nice!"

"Well, let's hurry and start a plan for getting out of here," Ienzo said, who had finished arguing with Lea. He walked down the hallway, followed by the others, leaving Sora, Riku and Kairi alone.

Sora took a step, but a searing pain ran up his foot. "Yipes!" he exclaimed. Why on earth was his foot hurting so badly? He glanced down to find it wrapped in a makeshift splint. "What the heck? What happened?" he asked no one in particular.

Riku and Kairi, who had been walking out the door, turned around to see what their friend was talking about.

"Oh, don't you remember? Your foot got smashed while we were fighting that giant Heartless," Kairi explained. "Ienzo gave you a potion to mend it a bit, but it wasn't quite enough, hence the splint."

"I can tell; it hurts!" Sora complained.

Riku rolled his eyes at the brunet. "Welcome to the club," he said, tapping a large bandage across his forehead.

"But how am I supposed to walk?" he asked, ignoring Riku.

Kairi scratched her head, thinking. "Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed. "You could fly!"

The realization hit Sora like a brick. He could freakin' fly now! He wanted to dance with excitement, but that wasn't going to work out well at the moment. In the meantime, he settled for a fist pump and an enthusiastic "Oh yeah! I should try that!" Clasping his hands together, he shimmered until he reached his normal size. He flapped his wings experimentally, and then leaped into the air. Sure enough, he was flying for the first time in his life. An adrenaline rush like no other was flowing through him, filling him with an indescribable joy. The rush of the air blowing his hair, the freedom from the ground, the high altitude…

He was truly flying!

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

In the cockpit Sora settled himself beside Myde and Olette, who were perched on the back of the deep blue pilot's chair. In the co-pilot's chair sat Riku, who hadturned the twirling chair to face the rest of the passengers. Lea, Ienzo, and Repliku each sat in a passenger chair, leaving the three girls to sit on the white-tiled floor. It was unnerving how alike Kairi, Naminé, and Xion appeared, Sora noted mentally.

Riku was the one to start off the conversation. "Okay, first thing's first: where exactly are you three from?" He had asked in a no-nonsense manner, gesturing to Repliku and his friends.

Repliku shot an uneasy look at Naminé, who shrugged helplessly in response. "We don't exactly understand it too well ourselves," he admitted, "but we know that we came from Ansem's lab." A moment of silence passed over the group as the late scientist's name was mentioned. Finally, Naminé confirmed Repliku's statement with a small nod.

"Myde is the one who brought these three to us; perhaps he could explain the situation better," Ienzo suggested.

All eyes turned to the mullet-haired faery, who shifted uncomfortably under all the stares he was getting. "It was an accident, I swear!" he said nervously. "It was my first day on the job and Yen Sid's thingies showed up and messed up Mister Even's collection –"

"Collection of what?" Kairi asked curiously."

Myde scratched his head. "There was a lot of papers with stuff scribbled down, along with things like hair and skin and blood." He shuddered at the thought. "There was also a mermaid scale and a moonlight thingimajiggers," Myde added hurriedly.

"Hm, isn't that what Master Even collected in order to answer our questions back in Yen Sid's Kingdom?" Riku pointed out.

Sora frowned, thinking back to nearly a couple weeks ago. Riku was right; Master Even had asked to run some tests while he was staying at Yen Sid's. "Riku's right about that," Sora confirmed.

"Yep," Kairi said uncertainly, "but I don't understand what that has to do with this."

"I think I understand it now," Riku replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Even was trying to make us, right? However, Yen Sid's creatures vandalized his work and, well, his clones became more of the blend of us three."

"Why the heck would he do something like that?" Sora asked incredulously, to which Lea shrugged.

"They're scientists; they're always doin' crazy junk like that," the fire spirit pointed out.

Riku, however, seemed to have a different opinion. "I'm assuming it was to have an easy way to study us," he said. "Wasn't that what the scientists truly wished to do?"

Suddenly, Ienzo began to clap. "Bravo, Riku; I'm glad someone around here has the ability to use their head." He shot a glare at the lazy redhead. "From what I've surmised, Yen Sid was extremely territorial about you three – there was no way that the scientists could have gotten near you to begin extensive research."

"So, what's the deal with you four?" Lea asked, gesturing to Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Olette. "Where are y'all from? 'Cause we don't know too much about you guys."

"Well, Olette and I are from a reserve on Destiny Islands," Sora began, "and Kairi's from the ocean right by it. I'm not quite sure where Riku's from though."

Sora turned questioningly to Riku, who responded "Elven forest" in a hurried tone. The elf earned a strange look from Lea and Ienzo, but ignored them as Kairi continued speaking for them.

"We all went to Yen Sid's Kingdom for Misfits at the same time, save for Olette – we ran into her there," she explained. "There we found out that Yen Sid was crazy a bit too late, and Master Ansem came and got us out of there."

"And that brings us up to speed!" Olette concluded for them. "Now, how about we stop floating aimlessly through space?"

"I would like to know more about that weapon Riku and Xion managed to summon first," Ienzo stated.

In response, Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn. "I'm not quite sure what it is," he admitted, "but Yen Sid wanted us because of these weapons. I'm the only one of us three who has one at the moment, and I can only assume that Xion has it because of her connection to us."

While Riku was talking, Sora noticed that Xion had been staring right at him for some amount of time. He smiled and waved at her, but she didn't respond. Briefly, he recalled how Naminé had said that both Repliku and Xion couldn't talk, and he decided that must've been the problem.

Wait a minute…Didn't Repliku talk just a few minutes ago?

"Woah, wait a second," Sora interrupted. "Repliku can talk!"

Riku smacked his forehead. Beside him, Lea clapped his hands slowly and deliberately. "Bravo, Captain Obvious!" he told the young faery.

"No wait, he's right!" Kairi interjected. "We were told that both Repliku and Xion couldn't talk because of an accident with a cat. Was that wrong?"

Lea and Ienzo shot Naminé and Repliku a questioning look. "What's up with that?" Lea asked. "Of course Repliku can talk! And Xion too, we recently found out."

On the floor, Naminé rubbed her neck sheepishly. "That's my fault," she said quietly. "We just kind of panicked when we saw you, and, well, Repliku's kind of quiet and Xion couldn't talk then…"

"Wait, what is wrong with Xion?" Riku asked inquisitively. "Why can't she talk?"

"Because she has no memories," Ienzo said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Now, I agree with Olette; let's find somewhere to land. I nominate Destiny Islands, since there is a reserve for us there."

With that, Ienzo stood up and walked over to the touch-screen map to set a location, leaving Sora more confused than ever. What could he have meant when he said that Xion had no memories?

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Unfortunately, the group soon discovered that "Destiny Islands" was not in the Gummi Ship's database. They had no way of finding where that world was, let alone how to get there. On the plus side, the Gummi Ship held the locations of many other worlds, some being very close to their current position. After a bit of debating, the group finally decided to land on a world called "Traverse Town," which appeared to be the closest world at only an hour away. They hoped to find someone who could aid them in finding Destiny Islands or had the capacity to program its location into the "Navigator Gummi Blocks," as Olette called them. Since she and Ienzo seemed to be the brains of the group, they were nominated to steer the course to this strange new world.

That one hour seemed to last eons to the group, save for Xion, Myde, and Sora. Xion was entranced by the mirror in the bathroom. At the moment, she was currently trying to look behind it, presumably for the strange raven-haired girl on the other side. Sora was enjoying his new ability of flight, and was currently engaged in a game of tag with Myde.

Suddenly, the Gummi Ship began to descend into the clouds. Sora whizzed over to the window, eager to watch the world come into view. The other young teens joined him, eagerly awaiting to see this new world. Finally, the Gummi Ship lurched to a stop.

"Aaaaaaand we're here!" Olette announced.

"Thank goodness! I thought the ride would never end," Lea exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I second that," Kairi said with a yawn. "They could've at least installed a radio."

"I guess it was a bit dull," Repliku said.

Sora and Myde, who had stopped chasing each other by that point, stared incredulously at the bored teenagers.

"How was that boring? We were flying through space!" Myde exclaimed.

"Yeah, really!" Sora added for emphasis.

Lea and Ienzo rolled their eyes, but the rest of the party was much too exhausted to reply to the energetic faery. Instead, they settled for lowering the ramp to the Gummi Ship and finally exiting the cramped aircraft.

Their destination, Traverse Town, was quite different from both Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands. A star-speckled sky revealed that the world was locked in everlasting night, although the numerous antique street lamps seemed to make it almost as bright as day. Whilst cobblestone streets paved the way for pedestrians, they were definitely not in pristine condition. Various sized wooden shops and apartments lined the streets, reminiscent of something out of a Middle Ages city – hand-painted store signs and rowdy taverns included.

Speaking of the tavern, a young man had just exited the rowdy building. His most prominent features appeared to be his enormous stature and well-chiseled muscles, giving him a strong warrior vibe that was completed by the scar right in the middle of his face. Long, wild brown hair (although nowhere near as crazy as Sora's) fell just past his shoulders, resting on the animal skin belted over his shoulder. A small black apron reading "Traverse Town's Terrific Tavern (and Inn)" was tied around his waist, signaling that he was a worker there.

Sora could only gape at the tough-looking man, and he wasn't the only one. He just looked so strong and warrior-like; even those besides the faeries felt absurdly tiny in front of him.

"I thought I had seen everything, being in Traverse Town," the man finally said with a sigh. "You're probably not from around here, are you?"

Riku was the one to finally speak. "Er, yes. We were using this ship to travel…somewhere, but the world we need is not in the database. Since we are not familiar with Gummi Ships, we were hoping to find some assistance here."

The man stared at Riku and the rest of the group for a minute, staring at him like a wolf examines his prey. Sora gulped nervously; hopefully the man would stop any minute.

Thankfully, he did. "You," he said, gesturing to Riku, "are an elf, most likely from the Northern Forest. The redhead is from the Atlantica; she's got 'ocean' written all over her. I also sense an Islander in the group, along with Radiant Garden fey and antiseptic." He wrinkled his nose at the last word before continuing. "I assume you are heading for either Radiant Garden or Destiny Islands."

Everyone stared at the man incredulously. How could he have possibly known all that?

Sora was the one to voice their question, to which the brunet man smirked and replied, "It's surprising what you can find out when you use your senses."

"Leon, what are you doing out here? We have people to serve!" a girl's voice called out.

A raven-haired girl came bouncing out of the tavern, wearing a matching apron over a pair of bright orange mini-shorts. Her short bob cut framed her thin, angular face and accentuated her mischievous gray eyes. She couldn't have been more than three feet tall, but she could easily reach Leon's full height with her large, dragonfly-like wings - a signature trait of a full-blooded pixie. The only peculiar thing about her garb was the ninja forehead protector she wore, something that one doesn't see every day. In fact, Sora was pretty sure that he had only seen them in comics that he sometimes borrowed from his human pixie glanced over the crowd before raising an eyebrow. "What did we pick up today, the Lost Boys?" she asked her friend."Hardly, Yuffie," The man called Leon replied, unamused by her joke. "Just a rag-tag group of teenagers from different worlds. Seems like they've been through a lot today.""You don't know the half of it," Lea muttered under his 's attention turned to the fiery redhead. "Refugees?" she asked."Yeah, I guess you could say that," the fire spirit replied cast the group a sympathetic glance. "I'm sure we could prepare a couple of rooms for y'all for a night or two, although you may be a little cramped. Would you guys be okay with that?""To be honest, I think we'd be fine with anything; we're completely pooped right now," Lea answered, yawning at the end of his statement.

His yawn seemed to have been contagious, for Sora soon found himself letting out a rather large and noisy yawn.

"Sorry 'bout that," he hastily said, chuckling nervously.

The young pixie giggled at his antics. "Well, I guess that means we should hurry up and get those rooms ready, eh?" she said to him, her gray eyes filled with amusement. "C'mon inside while you wait!"

The exhausted party filed into the tavern and waited for about a half an hour, although Sora wasn't entirely sure. Everything was a blur to him, and he couldn't quite figure out what was going on half of the time; in fact, he was pretty certain that he had dozed off at one point, even though he was standing.

"The excitement of the day seems to be catching up to you," Riku commented as they entered a medium-sized hotel room. Sora blinked. When and how did he get here?

Lea brushed straight past the two younger fey and threw himself on the wooden cot, crumpling up the once tidy – albeit plain – bed sheets. A few seconds later, he was snoring away.

"I'm taking the other bed tonight; you get the floor," Riku said simply. Before Sora could process what he had just said, Riku collapsed on the cot on the other side of the room.

Sora sighed resignedly, but grabbed a pillow from Lea's bed and threw it onto the ground. "Tomorrow night I'll definitely get a bed!" he thought determinedly as he dropped onto the hard, wooden floor. Within minutes, however, he was out cold for the night.

**-Misfits-Misfits-Misfits-**

**Remember, reviews are motivation! :D**


	23. Chapter 23 Traverse Town

/N: Hi there...*runs*

**I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait! I've been crazy busy lately, but I managed to get this typed up during break.**

**I will try and update again sooner, I promise...**

**Anyway, I'll stop stalling and get onto the story. XD Thanks again to Mystics Apprentice, my wonderful beta reader!**

-**MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

Smoke.

Ashes.

Shadowy Heartless beings crawling through the rubble of what were once beautiful homes, rustling the branches of the dead plants that were not smashed to smithereens.

This was the new face of "Radiant Garden" that appeared under the cold sunrise the next morning. Yen Sid gazed upon the spectacle from a tower in the laboratory, the only building that remained recognizable. He stroked his beard mindlessly, a vacant look in his eyes as he watched a tendril of smoke dance just outside the window.

"_Master Yen Sid, sir?"_ came a familiar voice. Yen Sid blinked then turned to the overturned bookshelf beside him. The familiar crystal ball perched on the edge, a blue-tinged cloud appearing inside of it. _"What seems to be troubling you? After all, we did accomplish so much in this one night."_

The warlock remained silent for a moment. Finally, he said in a distant voice, "The trio, they got away. I can sense their presence traveling farther and farther away."

"_No worries, Master Yen Sid,"_ the crystal ball assured him_. "You are a powerful ruler of a world with an infinite amount of servants, not to mention our latest creation."_

Ah, yes, Yen Sid had almost forgotten about _that_. How on earth that had nearly slipped his mind, he would never understand. He chuckled darkly at his own thoughtlessness before turning to respond to the crystal ball.

"Ah, I suppose you are right about that," he said with a nod to his companion. "Speaking of which, I suppose I should start training him to be my right-hand man." The wizard clapped his hands thrice, and a small Heartless molded into existence.

"Bring me our guest in room 12B," he ordered. The Shadow made no motion to respond; he merely shrunk into a puddle and skittered out of the room.

A few short minutes later the Shadow returned, accompanied by a small boy with windswept, golden-blond spikes and startlingly blue, cloud-filled eyes. Light tendrils curled around his arms, neck, and cheeks. These tendrils formed a pair of glowing white wings on his back. They were rather large in proportion to his body. He appeared to be a normal young, freshly bloomed faery, save for two major differences: His expression was completely blank, matching his white T-shirt and slacks. The strangest part of the boy, however, may have been his uncanny resemblance to another young faery: Sora.

Yen Sid would never fully get over the awe he experienced while looking over this creation. He created a keywielder and a right-hand man for himself using his enemy's technology. Not only that, but this young man would help him obtain Star Seeker once more.

The warlock shook his head. No time to think of such fantasies; he had to focus on training young Roxas first before he could entertain what was in store down the road for him.

"Roxas," Yen Sid said to the boy in a commanding tone. "Look at me."

Slowly, Roxas lifted his head to the source of the voice.

Yen Sid smiled in satisfaction. The boy appeared to be a quick learner so far; hopefully this would make training a breeze.

"Good, you've learned your name," Yen Sid continued. "Now, follow me. We have some training to do."

Carefully, he picked up the crystal ball and slipped it into his pocket before marching out of the room. Roxas followed closely behind him, stone-faced as ever.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

"Hey, guys! I know y'all are probably tired, but this tavern can't have breakfast out for much longer!"

Naminé's eyes snapped open at the sound of someone's voice in the doorway. She slowly rolled over to see that dark-haired pixie from the night before hovering in her doorway. Her hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot expectantly. (Although it looked rather odd seeing the action done in midair.)

The pixie seemed to notice that Naminé was awake, for she flashed the faery girl a huge grin. "Top o' the morning to you!" she said, pretending to bow. "Would you mind getting your friends up? Tell them that the Great Ninja Yuffie can only keep the breakfast out for so long."

On that note she darted off, not even waiting for a response. Naminé glanced at her sleeping companions: Xion on the opposite side of the bed she was in, and Kairi occupying the cot closest to the window. Neither of them appeared to have heard Yuffie's wake-up call, for they were both fast asleep.

"_I guess I better get them up_," Naminé thought wearily. She gently nudged Xion a couple times until the raven-haired girl's eyes flew open. She then slipped out of bed and awoke Kairi in the same manner.

When both of her companions were awake, Naminé reported what Yuffie had told them about breakfast. Kairi groaned in exhaustion, but nodded anyway and began to throw on her outfit from the previous day. Xion made no attempt to respond.

As Kairi took a step towards the door, she grimaced and grabbed her leg. "Ugh, I don't know about you guys, but I am ridiculously sore from yesterday," she said to Xion and Naminé.

Naminé ran her fingers across her own legs. They were fairly banged up and bruised as well, not to mention how achy they were from running around all over the place.

"I'm pretty sore myself," she finally admitted, "and I'm sure Xion is as well."

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the raven-haired girl was following them out the door, which, of course, she wasn't. She appeared to be confused by her new surroundings, but seemed to relax upon making eye contact with Naminé.

"Come on, we're going to get food," Naminé coaxed her gently. Xion appeared to perk up at hearing the word "food," and so she arose from the bed and walked over to the two girls.

Kairi smiled at this brief exchange. "You seem to understand her very well," she commented kindly as they strolled slowly down the hallway.

Naminé shrugged. "I guess; I haven't really given it much thought."

They shuffled down the stairs in silence. _It's strange,_ Naminé mused, _to be thrust into a situation with strangers who look almost exactly like you__._

Well, almost strangers; she technically knew everything about Kairi and Xion, which felt kind of creepy.

Finally, the tavern bar appeared in sight. As the three reached the base of the stairs, Yuffie spotted them and waived them towards three open bar stools. Olette, Repliku, and Riku were already there along with Leon, who was serving them some sort of porridge.

"Good of you guys to show up!" Yuffie exclaimed, beaming at the trio. "It looks like you six are gonna be the only ones fed this morning."

"You mean afternoon," Leon corrected, filling three more small bowls with the porridge.

Kairi stared at the man and the pixie. "Afternoon?" she exclaimed. "How long did we sleep?"

Yuffie chuckled at the mermaid's reaction. "Well, you guys slept for about thirteen hours," she informed them, "but I'm betting that the guys that haven't gotten up yet are gonna sleep for at least three more hours."

Leon opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a tall figure stumbling down the stairwell.

"I'm here! Don't put away the food yet!" Myde cried, leaping into the open stool beside Naminé. Leon raised an eyebrow at the panting faery, but said nothing as he pushed four bowls of porridge down the table to the new occupants.

"Whew, thanks!" he said with a sheepish grin before wolfing down the food. "Mm, this is delicious. What is it?" he asked between slurps.

The brunet man raised an eyebrow. "Fish and oat gruel," he told the rocker faery.

Upon hearing that, Kairi gagged on her spoonful of the meal. When she regained her composure, she stared at the gruel in horror and slowly pushed the bowl away.

"It may not be restaurant quality," Leon continued as he served himself a bowl, "but it'll help replenish your strength after your adventure yesterday."

"Oh, I don't believe that is the problem," Riku interjected as he finished his own breakfast. "She's a mermaid and can't eat fish."

"She's only part mermaid. Not only could she eat it, she could benefit from getting something nutritious in her system," Leon told the elf as he filled another bowl with the gruel. Kairi opened her mouth to ask how he knew, but before the question left her mouth the man rolled his eyes. "Like I said last night, it's amazing what you can learn when you use your senses," he stated in a bored tone.

Curious, Naminé sampled the gruel herself. It didn't have much of a flavor, but it wasn't as disgusting as she thought it might be. Before she knew it, she had downed the whole bowl.

"Wowie, that was fast!" Yuffie said as she cleared the young faery's bowl from the table. "Do you want Kairi's?"

Naminé nodded, and Yuffie shoved the bowl down the table. Naminé caught it and began eating once more when Leon began talking.

"So, we can offer you a place to stay for a couple more nights, but after that it might be difficult," he said as he wiped down the countertop. "You mentioned that you have somewhere to travel from here?"

"Yes, we were on our way to Destiny Islands until we discovered that the database of our Gummi Ship didn't have the coordinates," Olette informed him.

Leon nodded. "I'm sure Cid could help you with that. I'll introduce you to him once everyone's up."

"Who's Cid?" Repliku asked, piping up for the first time.

"He's the resident mechanic, engineer, and all around tech-guy," Yuffie explained. "He can have a bit of an attitude, but he's really a nice guy."

While everyone finished their meal in silence, Naminé examined the inside of the tavern. It was pretty simple in design. Wooden tables and booths filled the windowless room, and several cheap light fixtures resembling chandeliers hung from the ceiling. There was a small stained glass window by the door to the right of the bar, and various posters ranging from bands to advertisements neatly lined the back wall.

Despite its cheap appearance, the tavern was actually rather quaint, in Naminé's opinion. She wished that she could capture its unique beauty and preserve it, but she wasn't sure how. Perhaps burning it into her memory would have to do for now. She had a billion already; what was one more? Besides, she needed to make more of her own memories.

Naminé was broken away from her musings by Leon's voice. "Well, since it appears as though the others are not getting up anytime soon, I guess they'll just have to do without food until the evening," he grumbled as he grabbed the pot of gruel and walked into a door behind the bar.

This left the seven of them with Yuffie. The pixie scratched her head, as if thinking about something.

"I was hoping to ask this of all of you, but I'm getting sick of waiting," she finally said. "I don't mean to pry, but how did all of you wind up all beat up and flying around in a Gummi Ship?"

The group exchanged hesitant glances. Finally, Kairi spoke up. "It's a very long, complicated story. I'm not sure where to start or who to start with."

"I think Riku and Kairi should start, since their trio seems to be the center of it all," Repliku said. All eyes shifted to him, causing him to grow nervous and stare straight down at the floor. "It seemed like a good idea to me," he mumbled.

Naminé was filled with sympathy for the boy. She had to say something to divert the attention from him. "Th-that sounds smart," Naminé forced out. "I'm sure Riku and Kairi can cover for Sora's part of the story as well."

Yuffie frowned. "Sorry, I'm blanking out. Which one's Sora?"

"The short one upstairs," Myde replied, licking the bottom of his breakfast bowl.

Riku smirked at Myde's description of Sora. "I highly doubt that he would be happy to be known as 'the short one,'" he commented, causing Kairi to giggle.

Repliku's blue-green eyes met Naminé's cerulean, cloud-filled ones for a moment. "Thank you," he mouthed. Naminé returned the gesture with a small smile before turning to the rest of the group.

"Well, I guess I'll start," Kairi said with a sigh. "Boy, this is gonna take a while."

The mermaid began by summarizing how she ended up at the Destiny Island Reserve with Sora's family, Riku interjecting only to say that he and his friend Wakka were "visiting" the island due to problems at home. Eventually, they came to where Vanille broke the news to Sora that he was being sent to Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits along with Kairi.

At that statement, Leon jumped into the scene with a concerned expression. "Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits?" he repeated.

Naminé stared at the man. "_What on earth could he know about that kingdom_?" she thought curiously. She leaned in closer to the edge of the bar.

"Indeed. Why do you ask?" Riku asked curiously.

Leon didn't say anything, but merely shook his head. Riku, however, refused to accept that as an answer. "What do you know about that place?" he pressed.

"Enough to know that you don't have anywhere to go now," he replied shortly. "By now all of your friends and family have probably forgotten about your existence. You may as well find a new home now."

_THUMP._

Kairi slammed her fists on the table, startling the other people at the bar. "How could you say that?" she demanded, glaring at the man. "Our families would never forget us!"

He met her harsh gaze with cold, stormygrey eyes. For a spit second, lightning appeared to flash in them, making Leon appear all the more fearsome. Finally, he broke the tension in the room and spoke.

"I ended up there myself after a series of incidents. There I learned the hard way that Yen Sid uses his magic to erase your existence in the outside world," Leon told them in a curt voice.

"Leon, don't get mad at them!" Yuffie cut in, scolding the much larger man. "How in the world were they supposed to know?!"

Leon didn't respond; he merely grumbled something about dishes to be washed and headed to the door behind the bar once more.

"Don't mind him, he gets grumpy when he thinks about stuff from a while ago," Yuffie brushed off casually. "Now, continue your story! It sounds like it was getting to the good part."

Riku and Kairi glanced at each other nervously, but continued the story nonetheless. Myde joined in as well once they reached the Radiant Garden portion of their tale.

When they finally finished, Yuffie exhaled and took a step back. "Wow," she said. "That is crazy. So Radiant Garden was completely wiped out?"

"That is how it appears," Riku confirmed, "not including our group, Yen Sid, and his minions."

Yuffie nodded slowly. She let the story sink in for a minute before asking, "So, you wanna go see if Cid can help you out with your ship?"

"I thought Leon said that going to Destiny Islands is pointless now," Olette pointed out.

The pixie smiled mischievously at the girl. "It is with that attitude! Don't tell me you guys are just gonna give up already."

On that note, Yuffie glided over to the stairwell. "Well, I'm gonna go get your friends up. Maybe y'all can make a decision together!" she said brightly. Then she flew up the stairs and out of the group's sight.

A few minutes later, she returned dragging a half-awake, bed-headed Sora and Lea down the stairs. Ienzo followed calmly behind them, although he appeared to be rather irritated. Naminé stifled a chuckle at the sight of the four of them; they looked like something straight out of a comic book.

"Rise and shine! You have a bunch of huge decisions to make, so you better wake up!" Yuffie told them in a sing-song voice. "You've missed out on too much already by sleeping the day away!"

Sora grumbled something unintelligible, and Lea made no attempt to respond. Ienzo, however, retorted in an cross tone, "I was _meditating_, not sleeping. There's a large difference between the two."

Yuffie ignored the rain spirit and dropped the two boys into bar stools beside Myde. "Well now, let's take a vote: who wants to go to Destiny Islands?" she asked loudly.

Sora, who was finally starting to wake up, gave the pixie a bewildered look. "Uh, I thought we were already going there," he said in a confused tone.

Out of the corner of her eye, Naminé saw Riku shake his head. Kairi seemed to have noticed this too, for she took up the task of filling in thelatecomers. "An issue has cropped up. According to Leon, Yen Sid works some sort of magic to make everyone forget about the people who left to his Kingdom of Misfits," she informed them.

"That would explain why no one remembered me!" Olette piped up.

Sora stared at them blankly. "Wait, so no one back home will remember us?" he asked incredulously.

"That's the gist of it," Yuffie confirmed.

"Well, we'll just have to make 'em remember us!" Lea said confidently, finally jumping in to the conversation.

"Besides," Riku said, "What else can we do at this point?"

"You could do some research on those Keyblades of yours," a voice said. Leon once again emerged from the back room, drying off a pan with a plain white towel.

It was amazing how that guy could just pop in an out and be on top of the conversation, Naminé mused briefly.

Sora gaped at the brunet. "Woah, how did you know about those?" he asked, awed.

"Your friends caught us up on your story while you slept in," Leon replied. He set the dry pan on the side of the bar before continuing. "There are many mysteries and prophecies surrounding those weapons. Rumor has it that those who put the legendary King of Darkness in his grave wielded them."

At this statement, everyone's eyes grew wide – save for Kairi's. Instead she asked, "Who's the King of Darkness?"

Myde shot the girl an incredulous look. "You haven't heard that tale?" he cried.

Lea shook his head at the girl. "Man, I knew mermaids were sheltered, but I didn't think it was this bad," he said. "It's a classic nighttime story from small kids, except it's a true story." Everyone nodded and muttered agreements with the flame spirit.

"Ugh, will someone just tell me it already?" Kairi pleaded, her face turning red in embarrassment. Everyone opened their mouth to speak, but suddenly Naminé found the words falling from her mouth:

"_Eons past, when the world was whole_

_A queen of the light_

_Ruled o'er us all._

_The light provided_

_and the people abided_

_not to 'murder or injure or pilfer each other.'_

_Then one day, her eldest son_

_Ever curious, ever bold_

_Pilfered the peasants, injured his mother!_

_Murdered his youngest sister and brother!_

'_To test the laws and test the light,'_

_Was what he told his dear old queen_

_For 'light was old, light was weak'_

_For something better, he would seek."_

Suddenly, Repliku joined her in singing the final chorus.

_:Oh, my son, what have you done?_

_Darkness comes now, we must run_

_For darkness collides_

_With the light that provides_

_And ruins us all, ev'ry mother's child!"_

The two faded out slowly, upon realizing they were both awkwardly singing together.

Riku stared at them both for a moment with his moonlike, pupilless eyes. "That's the way that it was sung to me when I was younger," he commented simply.

Now it was Naminé's turn to flush bright red. She and Repliku had Riku's memories, so it would make sense that Riku recognized that version, but still…

"The song goes on for a while longer, but basically the son goes evil and take over the land and is later overthrown by three kids of the light," Lea explained, trying to break the ice.

Leon nodded, glancing at the two silverets and the blonde. He seemed to be in deep thought about something, most likely the scientist-replica situation the group told him and Yuffie about earlier.

Yuffie, greatly annoyed by the silence, slammed her fist on the table. "Well, enough chit-chat, let's figure out a plan for your future!" she proclaimed loudly. "So, what do y'all intend to do?"

Before anyone could respond, Sora shouted, "Go to Destiny Islands, fo course!"

Yuffie beamed. "I like the way you think, kid," she said, high-fiving him.

The others just stared at him. "And why exactly do you still wish to travel to your former home?" Ienzo asked.

Sora opened his mouth to respond, but Yuffie beat him to the punch. "It's simple: you go back to Destiny Islands once Cid works his magic on your ship and see if you can get your friends and families to remember you. If they do, great! If they don't, then just make them remember you."

Ienzo nodded. "Fair enough," he agreed. "Let's hurry up and meet this 'Cid' character then so we can get on the road quickly."

"Okie-dokie, let's hop to it then!" Yuffie zoomed over to the entrance and kicked the old door open. "C'mon, slow pokes! We don't have all day!'

As the group left the bar and followed the ninja pixie, Lea's stomach grumbled. "Jeez, I'm starving!" he moaned.

"That's what happens when you sleep in too late," Yuffie told the fire spirit, rolling her eyes.

Naminé brought up the rear of the group. She was still highly embarrassed by what she had done earlier, but thankfully they all seemed to have forgotten the incident.

Well, most of them. Riku was still eyeing her curiously from time to time.

Keeping her eyes low to the ground, she closed the door to the tavern and followed the other fey down the cobblestone streets. Hopefully she could avoid bringing any more attention to herself.

**-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-**

**A/N: The rest of my attempted poem can be found on my Deviantart account, "Mosstarkitteh." :P**


End file.
